Egyptian Muslim Volunteers Organize to Protect Copts during Easter Prayers

Fearing that Egypt's Coptic community may be at risk as sectarian tensions grow, Muslims are acting as human shields during Easter Mass, which extends to after midnight Saturday.

People in Egypt have been using social networks to call on Muslims to protect Coptic prayers during Easter holidays, Ahram Online reported.

Several Facebook groups and event invitations have been circulating calling on Muslims to head to churches on Saturday and Sunday to act as human shields. Sectarian violence has hit the country, especially as mass demonstrations continue in Qena, where people are demanding the resignation of the governor for being a Christian.

Muslims have before acted as "human shields" to protect Egypt's Christian community, such as after the terror attacks that targeted the Two Saints Church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve and left 21 dead.

Similarly, during Egypt's revolution, Christians in Tahrir Square protected praying Muslims as they were threatened by attacks from pro-regime thugs.

However, this week, sectarian clashes between Muslims and Christian Copts left two people dead and at least eight more injured in Minya governorate central Egypt.

There are around 8 million Christian Copts in Egypt, which represent about 10 percent of the population. Minya governorate has one of the highest number of Copts in the country. About 50 percent of the region's 4.2 million population are Coptic Christians.