Timeline
7 January 2010
Egypt
As Christians were leaving the Church of Saint John the Beloved in Nag Hammadi, Minya Governorate, the congregation was attacked in a sustained armed assault from multiple vehicles and positions throughout the city. The attack killed 8 Copts and injured 11 others, in one of the most violent sectarian incidents in Egypt before the January 2011 Revolution.
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31 October 2010
Iraq
The massacre took place at the Syriac Catholic Church of Our Lady of Salvation in the Karrada district of eastern Baghdad. The first modest church was built on the site in 1952, and the current cathedral was constructed in 1968 after three years of building. Approximately 5,000 regular-attending families were affiliated with this cathedral alone, out of a total of approximately 14,000 Syriac Catholic families in Baghdad before the attack.
1 January 2011
A terrorist bombing targeted the Church of Saints, the Apostle Mark and Pope Peter the Seal of the Martyrs in the Sidi Bishr district of eastern Alexandria, as worshippers were leaving the New Year's Eve liturgy. The explosion killed 23 people and injured approximately 97 others. This incident is considered the first terrorist bombing of this scale to target a church in modern Egyptian history.
6 July 2013
On the morning of Saturday, 6 July 2013, shortly after finishing the Divine Liturgy, Fr. Mina Aboud Cherubim, priest of St. Mina Church in Al-Masaeed, El-Arish, was fatally shot by masked gunmen who opened fire from a passing vehicle as he exited the church. He was martyred instantly in front of the church's annex building. The assassination came amid the aftermath of the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi and a wave of security chaos and systematic targeting of Copts in North Sinai.
15 February 2015
Libya
On 15 February 2015, the terrorist group ISIS published a video showing the beheading of 21 Christians held captive in Sirte, Libya — twenty of them Egyptian Copts and one from Ghana. Pope Tawadros II gave them the title 'Martyrs of the Faith' and canonized them as saints just one week after the incident, on 21 February 2015.
30 June 2016
On the morning of Thursday, 30 June 2016, Fr. Raphael Moussa, priest of St. George Church in El-Arish, was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in El-Arish, North Sinai. The Egyptian Ministry of Interior and the Coptic Orthodox Church officially announced the news. The group "Ansar Beit al-Maqdis - Sinai Province" (ISIS affiliate) claimed responsibility, stating he was targeted with 9mm pistols and an automatic weapon. Fr. Raphael had been ordained in the same class as his friend Fr. Mina Aboud, who was martyred three years earlier in the same city.
11 December 2016
During the Christmas Fast liturgy, a suicide bomber detonated himself inside the Church of Saint Peter (Anba Rouis Church) adjacent to the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Abbassia, Cairo, with an explosive vest weighing approximately 12 kilograms. The bombing killed 29 people, the majority of them women, and injured more than 31 others. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the first to target this church in its history.
9 April 2017
A suicide bomber detonated himself at the security gate of the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral of Alexandria in the Ramel Station district, while Pope Tawadros II was inside the church presiding over the Palm Sunday liturgy. The explosion killed 18 people, including several police officers and soldiers who confronted the bomber and prevented him from entering the church, and injured dozens more. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, which became known alongside the Tanta bombing as the 'Palm Sunday Bombings.'
A suicide bomber detonated himself inside Mar Girgis (Saint George) Abu Naga Church in Tanta, Gharbia Governorate, during the Easter liturgy while the church was crowded with worshippers. The explosion killed 30 people and injured approximately 71 to 87 others. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, naming the perpetrator 'Abu Ishaq al-Masri.' A second bombing targeted the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria later that same day; the two attacks are collectively known as the 'Palm Sunday Bombings.'
26 May 2017
Vehicles carrying Coptic Christian families traveling to visit the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor in the Qalmon Mountains, west of Minya Governorate, were attacked in a terrorist assault. Approximately 28 to 29 people — including children, women, and men — were killed, and more than 24 others were injured. The Coptic Orthodox Church gave the martyrs of this day the title 'New Martyrs of Qalmon,' and an annual memorial is held on 26 May.
29 December 2017
A terrorist launched an armed attack on the Church of the Martyr Mar Mina the Miracle-Worker and Pope Kyrillos VI in the Helwan district south of Cairo, during preparations for Christmas celebrations. The attack killed 8 Christians and a police conscript who was part of the church security detail. Additionally, two brothers were killed in a separate assault by the same terrorist at a nearby commercial establishment, bringing the total death toll to 10, with 5 others injured. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack that evening.
21 April 2019
Sri Lanka
The attacks targeted three churches and four luxury hotels in near-simultaneous explosions. (The churches: St. Anthony's Shrine in Colombo, St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, and Zion Evangelical Church in Batticaloa.)
7 April 2022
On the evening of Thursday, 7 April 2022, at approximately 8 PM, while present at the Sidi Bishr area east of Alexandria with a group of youth and servants from his church following a trip to Abu Haifa beach, Hegumen Arsanios Wadid, priest of the Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Bolas in Karmooz, was suddenly attacked and stabbed by a 60-year-old man, who wounded him in the neck, severing the main artery. He was immediately transferred to the Military Hospital in Sidi Gaber, where resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful, and he passed away shortly after arrival.
22 June 2025
Nigeria
A lone suicide bomber entered the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Elijah in the Christian district of Dweil'a in Damascus, opened fire on worshippers, and then detonated his explosive belt. Approximately 350 people were inside the church at the time of the attack. Surveillance camera footage showed the bomber entering the church alone, followed by the sounds of gunfire and an explosion that shattered the church windows.
Syria
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