A memorial ceremony for the 21 Egyptian Christians killed by IS militants began at the Virgin Mary church in Al Awar village, Minya, Upper Egypt. The victims' families insisted to hold the memorial prayers in the village's church instead of the archbishopric in Samalot as planned. The ceremony was attended by the bishops of Minya, Undersecretary of the Ministry of endowments, and a number of public figures. President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi met Monday with Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark at Al Abbasiyya cathedral to extend his condolences for the deaths of the victims. Al Azhar sent its condolences to Pope Tawadros II, expressing its deep grief and sorrow for the death of the victims in what it described as an "ugly criminal act." Egyptian air forces carried out air raids on IS' positions in Libya in retaliation for the mass murder of 21 Egyptian Christians previously abducted in two separate operations in Sirte.
