Tears and anger as Egyptian Copts bury attack victims

DEIR EL JERNOUS, Egypt: Mourners sang, women sobbed and men cried out in anger in a packed Egyptian church at the funeral of some of the 28 Coptic Christians killed in Friday´s bus attack.

Eight wooden coffins were lined up in front of the altar, each bearing a golden cross and a white piece of paper printed with the name of the victim inside.

Relatives of the dead -- men in long flowing robes and women dressed in black -- pressed their faces to the coffins in a final farewell.

They had been among 28 people gunned down by masked gunmen as they travelled in a bus to the Saint Samuel monastery in Minya province south of the Egyptian capital.

Outside the church, a man brandishing a big wooden cross was carried on the shoulders of a friend.

"With our soul, with our blood we will sacrifice ourselves for the sake of the Cross," people around him shouted.

Friday´s was the latest attack on Copts after Islamic State (IS) group jihadists bombed three churches in December and April, killing dozens of Christians.

It came after jihadists had threatened more strikes against the Copts, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt´s 90-million population.

No claim of responsibility has yet been made.

For some among the Coptic community, authorities are not doing enough to protect them.

"I tell (Abdel Fattah al-)Sisi, you will have to account for your action in heaven," said Reda Makary of the president and former army chief.

His nephew Nassef, a 28-year-old labourer, was killed in Friday´s attack.

"Of course there is no security. If there were, they wouldn´t have been killed," said Makary, adding that his nephew had become a father for a third time just two months earlier.