Assailant arrested after attacking Egypt church guard

Cairo, July 16 (IANS): A security guard was wounded at a church in Egypt's Alexandria city as an assailant 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 on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Police are currently questioning 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.