A 46-year-old Coptic woman in Egypt’s port city of Alexandria was attacked and stabbed multiple times by an unknown man after attending a church service on the evening of 21 August, reports Coptic news site Watani.
When Amal Awad left the church of the Holy Virgin and Archangel Raphael, in the district of Al-Hadra, where they had been celebrating the Coptic Feast of the Assumption of Mary, she noticed someone was following her.
Just before she reached her home, opposite the church, a man grabbed her from behind and started stabbing her repeatedly. She ultimately was able to shake him off and those who heard her scream took her to the hospital where she is in a stable condition, recovering from wounds to her abdomen, back and left leg.
While in hospital, Ms Awad, an active member of the Coptic community and Sunday school teacher, was visited by the Governor of Alexandria, Mohamed Sultan, and also Anba Pavli, Bishop-General of Muntazah Churches. The attack is the latest in a series against Copts in Egypt. Last month, a security guard was stabbed outside another church in Alexandria – the same one that had been bombed on Palm Sunday.
Although the stabbing of Ms Awad was on a much smaller scale than the Palm Sunday attacks in Tanta and Alexandria and the bus attack in Minya on Ascension Day, local sources told World Watch Monitor that the attackers seem to have a preference for important Coptic religious festivals or active members of the Coptic community.
According to the news site Copts United, police are investigating the incident.