Incident

Journalist Wael Yunna among 20 killed in Cairo, Egypt riots

Cause of death

Crossfire

Details

Journalists Mina Daniel and Wael Yunna among 20 killed in Cairo, Egypt riots

At least 20 people have been killed in Cairo, Egypt after a protest against an attack on a church. More than a thousand security personnel were deployed to battle rioters on the bloodiest day in Cairo since Hosni Mubarak left power earlier this year.

Among the dead are journalists Mina Daniel and Wael Yunna. Mina Daniel was a noted blogger and writer who gained international attention for his coverage of the ‘Arab spring’ anti-Mubarak protests earlier this year. Wael Yunna was a journalist for Coptic TV.

Another prominent figure killed today was Michael Mosaad, a leader of the Maspero Youth Union. The protests were triggered by continued attacks on a Coptic church in Merinab in Aswan. Christians claim that Muslims gangs are behind the attacks, and protesters say that they were planning a peaceful protest today before they were attacked by armed gangs. Unconfirmed reports claim that at least 10 protesters died when an armoured military vehicle ran them over.

“The march was peaceful,” one protester told local media. “Then the army started firing live rounds at the crowd”.

The violence seemed to initially focus on a bridge in Cairo before spreading to Tahrir Square, the symbolic heart of the campaign to overthrow Mubarak earlier in the year. Christians are calling on the government to do more to protect them from Muslims gangs.

The government has appealed for calm but has been accused of failing to listen to the Christians’ concerns. Many Christians see the growing internal conflict as a sign that ultra-conservative Islamists are gaining power in the power vacuum that has developed following Mubarak’s departure from power.

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