On 2 November 2018, masked gunmen opened fire on a group of Egyptian Christians travelling by bus through Minya.

[7] Copts have faced growing persecution and sectarian violence in Egypt since the early 2010s, including several in the last two years, all claimed by the Islamic State.

[8] On 29 December 2017, a gunman killed at least 11 people in attacks on a Coptic Orthodox church and a Christian-owned shop near Cairo before he was wounded and arrested.

[10] On 11 December 2016, a suicide bomber killed 29 people and injured 47 others at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church (commonly known as El-Botroseya Church[11]) On 2 November 2018, three buses left Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor carrying Coptic Christians on their way to Minya.

[2] Pope Francis prayed for the victims in his Sunday Angelus Address, subsequent to the killings.