A number of masked men killed a security guard when they attacked the site of a former church early Thursday morning in a village in Fayoum Governorate, southwest of Cairo.
The men fired a barrage of bullets at the security team, which included one police sergeant and two guards. Security sources said the officials were guarding the site on which the Rawda Evangelical Church in Tamia Township stood before it was destroyed by the 1992 Cairo earthquake.
According to Christian websites in Egypt, government authorities have failed to issue a permit for the reconstruction of the church.
An Egyptian security official on Thursday identified the security guard who was killed as 37-year-old Rabi Abdel Samie.
Eyewitness Osama Mahmoud, another member of the security crew, said the masked men were riding in a jeep and attacked at around 3:30 am.
After the security guards ducked into the security office and shut the door, the attackers continued to fire, penetrating the room with several bullets, two of which hit Abdel Samie, Mahmoud said.
The assailants then drove away, according to witness Ahmed Abdel Wahid.
Four masked men were behind the attack, according to a preliminary investigation. The investigation also reportedly confirmed that there have been no feuds between the victim and village residents.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
