Another Coptic Christian soldier has been killed at his army unit under mysterious circumstances, according to MCN.
On Sunday, July 23, Baha Saeed Karam, 22, was killed by four bullets at the headquarters of his battalion in Marsa Matruh. Although transferred to a hospital in Alexandria, he died upon arrival.
According to Baha’s brother, Cyril, the Coptic soldier had told him previously that he had gotten into some quarrels with other soldiers in his unit and that they had threatened him with death.
Baha is not the first Coptic Christian soldier in Egypt to be killed while stationed with his unit under “mysterious” circumstances. Last June, another young Coptic soldier—the only Christian in his unit—was found dead, shot and bludgeoned on the head. The army claimed he had committed suicide.
In 2013, another Coptic soldier, Abu al-Khair Atta, was also killed in his unit.
In both cases, relatives said that the slain Coptic soldiers had earlier confided that other soldiers in their units were arguing with them about religion and pressuring them to convert to Islam, including under threats.