Egypt Coptic priest shot dead in Sinai

Cairo, June 30 

An Egyptian Coptic priest was shot dead today in the Sinai Peninsula where authorities are battling a jihadist insurgency, officials said, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

Raphael Moussa, 46, died instantly when a man shot him in the head as he was standing next to his car in El-Arish, the capital of North Sinai, said Boulos Halim, a church spokesman.

The Islamic State group's Egypt branch claimed responsibility for the murder in a statement posted on social media, accusing him of "combating Islam".

Moussa had earlier left a church where he attended mass, Halim said. — AFP