19 militants killed in Egypt security operation after attack on Christians
Those killed suspected of shooting Christians who were travelling by bus to a monastery
Egyptian security forces killed 19 Islamist militants from a cell believed to be responsible for an attack on Christians in Minya province in central Egypt which left seven people dead, the interior ministry said on Sunday.
The suspects were killed in a firefight in the desert west of Minya province after security forces pursued them, the ministry said in a statement. It did not say when the firefight took place.
The group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the Minya attack, which occurred on Friday, though it provided no evidence of its involvement.
Gunmen killed the Christians in an attack on a bus that was travelling to a Coptic monastery in the most serious assault on the minority in more than a year.
The attackers struck close to Saint Samuel the Confessor monastery in Minya, 260 kilometres up the Nile River from Cairo.
Relatives of the victims say a 15-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl were among the dead. Nineteen people were wounded in the attack.
Local resident Hilal said he rushed to the scene after hearing about the attack and saw the militants on the road.
"Some of us came to try and block the road. There were three four-wheel drive vehicles and the militants opened fire ... The militants wore white thobes and checkered head-dresses," he said.
Aida Shehata, who was shot in her legs, said masked men opened fire on three buses from different directions.
Two of the buses were able to speed away and reach the monastery, but the militants stopped the third one and killed the driver and six of the passengers, including her husband and his brother.
With files from The Associated Press