Earlier today, gunmen in Minya, Egypt opened fire on a bus full of Coptic Christians traveling to a monastery. The attack was carried out by a group of men in fatigues and face masks in 3 vehicles who killed at least 28 people. Men, women, and even children are counted among the dead. Minya Gov. Essam El-Bedewy told Egyptian media that there are 26 more injured, and many are in critical condition.

This attack comes just a month after the double attacks on Coptic Christian Churches on Palm Sunday that killed dozens of church-goers as well as some security personnel.

That attack was claimed by Daesh or the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and put the entire area under a 3 month state of emergency.

The Egyptian Government has been fighting for years to protect its citizens who are Coptic Christians. The Coptic Christian minority in Egypt was not only attacked on Palm Sunday, but a group was bombed in December of 2016. Amnesty International has reported repeated attacks and threats against the group. In Minya specifically, a Coptic Christian church was burned down in 2013.

Egypt strikes back

The identity of the gunmen, and what groups they may or may not be associated with, is unknown. That is now apparently a false belief, as the news has just broke via the Associated Press that Egypt has conducted airstrikes on targets in Eastern Libya in response to the attacks that occurred earlier today.

It seems apparent that the Egyptian Government has reliable intelligence that the attacks were carried out by the Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna, Libya. The Shura Council of Mjahideen is a coalition of Islamist militias in Libya that want to implement Sharia Law, and have become known for their opposition to and clashes with Daesh-affiliated and allied groups that have also moved into the Derna area.

Egypt's terrorism problem

Egypt has a history of having to fight terrorists inside of its borders, a task that has gotten significantly more difficult over the last decade. The country has struggled in its fight against terrorists on the Sinai Peninsula, where the source of much of the disturbance appears to come from Gaza, home of Hamas -- considered a terrorist organization by the U.S.

State Department. The Egyptian Armed Forces have spent a lot of time battling jihadists near the area.

What truly pushed the problem over the edge was two-fold. First was the Egyptian Armed Forces overthrow of President Muhammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. His overthrow painted the government as a prime target by militants seeking to return Egypt's government to Islamist control. The other was the collapse of the Gaddafi government in Libya. Libya has since been a hotbed for terrorist and jihadist activity that has proven to be a thorn in Egypt's side.
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