Hommam Al Nassim 
Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church says three of its monks have been killed after they were subjected to deadly attacks in South Africa.
According to a statement by the Egyptian Church, the priest Rev. Takla Samweli, viceroy of the Diocese of South Africa, monk Justus Ava Marcus, and monk Mina Ava Marcus “were martyred after an armed attack targeted them” at the monastery of St. Mark the Apostle and St. Anba Samuel the Confessor in Johannesburg.
But South African police spokesman Colonel Dimakatsu Nfhuholi said in a statement that the three were stabbed to death, while a fourth person survived the incident after being hit with a metal rod but managed to escape.
“The motive for the murder is still unknown at this point,” he said, adding that the suspects “apparently left the site without taking any valuables.”
For his part, the legal adviser of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church confirmed in press statements to the Arab World News Agency “AWP”, that “the three monks were slaughtered by slaughter, a method usually used by terrorist groups, especially since the monastery does not have any things that can be stolen.”
In turn, the Egyptian Church reported that Pope Tawadros II is following up moment by moment all the details of this incident while waiting to know its causes.
Pope Tawadros offered his condolences to the families of the three monks and expressed deep pain at such a tragic incident.
The Egyptian security services are continuing to communicate with their counterparts in Johannesburg to determine the causes of the crime, as the reasons behind the attack and the party responsible are still unknown.
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