Gunmen Kill Ten in Attack on Coptic Church Near Cairo

At least 10 people have been killed after a gunman opened fire on a Coptic church near the Egyptian capital, Egypt's Health Ministry said. The attacker tried to enter Mar Mina Church in Helwan City, south of Cairo, on Friday, Al Jazeera reported.

Security forces later killed the gunman.

Local reports said there was a second attacker, and claimed that policemen were among the victims, a majority of which were Coptic Christian. Omar Ashour, a visiting professor of security studies at the Doha Institute, told Al Jazeera the attack was part of an "ongoing crisis" in Egypt.

"It's more continuity than change, we still need more details to come up, but so far Egypt has witnessed over 2,000 attacks in the last three years," he said.

The self-styled Islamic State terrorist group has frequently targeted Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christians this year.

In May, the armed group attacked Copts travelling to a monastery in central Egypt, killing 29 people. A month earlier, 44 people were killed in bomb attacks at a cathedral and another church on Palm Sunday.

Egypt's Christian minority makes up about 10% of the country's population.