Knifeman arrested after attacking Egypt church guard

A security guard was wounded on Saturday at a church in Egypt's seaside city of Alexandria as a man attacked him with a blade for not allowing him in, the Egyptian Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Now arrested, the 24-year-old Muslim man, a jobless law college graduate, attacked the guard, 47, with a blade on the neck after the latter questioned his reasons for getting into the Tow Saints (Al-Qiddisain) Church in eastern Alexandria, said the statement.

The police is currently interrogating the assailant and probing into the accident and the motives behind it, saying the young man did not have anything else harmful or legally prohibited in his possession.

It is the same church where a terror blast back on 2011 Christmas eve killed at least 24 and wounded about 90 Copts.

The local media websites circulated a video allegedly from the church entrance, showing the young man passing the security guard and suddenly attacking him on the neck after the guard stopped him and seemingly attempted to search his handbag.

Terror attacks in Egypt have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the mid-2013 military removal of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his currently-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Most of the attacks have been claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militia, which started to expand terror operations to target the Coptic Christian minority to further pressure the government.

In May 2017, IS claimed responsibility for shooting dead at least 30 Copts heading to visit a monastery on the desert highway in Upper Egypt's Minya province.

Earlier in April 2017, the IS-claimed bombings at two churches in Gharbiya and Alexandria northern provinces killed at least 47 and wounded over 120.

A similar suicide bombing at a Cairo church in December 2016 killed at least 29 worshippers, mostly women and children.