Cairo - The 'Islamic State' terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack on a bus outside of Cairo that killed at least 29 Coptic Christians including 10 children. In a statement Saturday morning, ISIS said its soldiers carried out the attack early Friday as a group of Coptic Christians who were reportedly on their way to a monastery south of Cairo. The Egyptian Cabinet said in a news release that 13 victims of Friday's attack remained hospitalized in Cairo and the southern province of Minya where the attack took place. The attack was the fourth to target Egypt's Christian community since December 2016. The bloodshed came on the eve of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. As many as 10 masked attackers in three SUVs stormed the bus dressed in military uniforms and demanded that the passengers recite the Muslim profession of faith, witnesses said, according the Wall Street Journal. Then, the gunmen opened fire. Three children on board the bus reportedly survived. Hours after Friday's attack, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi announced that Egypt had launched airstrikes against militant training bases in Libya. Senior Egyptian officials said fighter jets targeted bases in eastern Libya of the Shura Council, an Islamist militia known to be linked to al-Qaida, not the Islamic State group. There was no immediate word on damage or casualties.
