Paris turns off Eiffel tower lights for slain Egyptian Coptic Christians

The Eiffel Tower turned its light off Saturday at 12:45 at the request of Paris’s mayor in tribute to 28 Egyptian Coptic Christians who lost their lives in an armed attack on buses carrying pilgrims in Upper Egypt’s Minya governorate.

“All the staff of the Eiffel Tower operating company fully support this initiative of the City of Paris and their thoughts will go to the families of victims,” an Eiffel Tower statement read.

The attack also left 23 injured.

Following the Friday attack, the Egyptian air force carried out a strike against terrorist encampments in Libya, an official army statement read, after "confirming their involvement in planning and committing the terrorist attack in Minya governorate on Friday."

No group has yet claimed the Minya attack, which is the latest in a series of deadly attacks on Egypt’s Christians.

On 9 April, suicide bombers targeted St George's Church in Tanta and St Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria, killing and injuring dozens in the deadliest attack against civilians in the country's recent history. A total of 29 people died in the Tanta explosion and 18 in Alexandria.

Cairo imposed a nationwide three-month state of emergency after the bombings, with the option to extend for another three months dependent on a parliament vote.

Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population of 92 million

Source: Ahram online