Thousands of Christian mourners prepared on Saturday to bury six members of the same family who were killed while returning from a baptism at a Coptic monastery in Egypt's Minya province.
ADVERTISEMENTFunerals have been held for six members of the same family who were shot dead on Friday after attending a Coptic Christian service in Egypt.
In all seven people were killed and 18 injured, some of them children.
So-called Islamic State said their gunmen opened fire on the two buses taking the victims home from a baptism service at the ancient St. Samuel monastery in Minya province. In the past the group has called Christians "their favourite prey."
Many of the mourners blamed security lapses for repeated deadly attacks by Islamic extremists on Christians in recent years.
An attack in almost the same location killed 28 people in May 2017.
The government say they launched a crackdown on the extremists in February.
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he mourned the victims as martyrs and vowed to push ahead with the crackdown.
But Egypt's Coptic Christian minority, which represents about 10 percent of the population, say they are living in fear.