More than 6000 Copts in Cairo’s largely Coptic Shubra district organized a march on Monday night to vent their anger at the deaths of 21 Coptic Christians in a suicide bombing that targeted an Alexandria church on New Year’s Eve.
Security forces held off protesters who hoisted wooden crosses.
Police officers ordered shop owners on both sides of the street to shutter up their businesses in order to prevent property damage.
The protest saw clashes between demonstrators and security officers. Protesters hurling stones caused damage to nine cars as well as three police vehicles driving through the area. Two officers and 12 policemen were injured.
Several security officials, including chief of the Cairo's Security Directorate Ismael al-Shaer, were present at the march.
Meanwhile, several Coptic protesters rallied on the ring road at Khosous, Qalyoubiya. They burned tires and threw stones at passing vehicles.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
