CAIRO: A Coptic Christian was killed and four were wounded in clashes in the southern Egyptian province of Minya after clashes triggered by a road accident, a security official said on Monday. The violence erupted on Sunday night in the villages of Nazlet Fargallah and El-Hwarta when a Copt driving a truck quarreled with mosque worker over a speed pump outside the mosque, the official news agency MENA said. A brawl between the two men quickly turned more violent, with friends and relatives of the two hurling stones at one another and then engaging in hand-to-hand combat before guns were used. In the course of the fight, men fired at worshipers leaving the mosque following the tarawih prayers. Consequently, Muslims from the El-Hawrta village gathered at the mosque in a violent confrontation with Coptic men from the Nazlet Faragalla village. A 51-year-old Copt, Maher Nassif, was killed and four were wounded from both sides, the security official said, adding that several Christian homes in the village were torched. Police reinforcements were sent to restore order and several suspects were arrested in connection with the violence. Reconciliation attempts reportedly started between the families involved in the clashes. Sectarian clashes are frequent in Egypt where Copts, who make up 10 percent of the 80-million-strong population, have been the target of attacks and have repeatedly accused the authorities of systematic discrimination.
