ICC Note: Over 100 Egyptian Christian families have fled the Sinai after weeks of terror from the Islamic State in and around el-Arish. At least six people were murdered by the group in recent weeks with increased targeting and attacks in the last week. Families were arriving in Ismailia all weekend with little to no supplies depending on church aid for relief. Many are outraged at the government’s inaction in protecting the religious minority.

02/27/2017 Egypt (TDS): Egyptian Christians fearing attacks by Daesh (ISIS) militants fled the volatile northern part of the Sinai Peninsula for a fourth day Sunday, after a string of sectarian killings there sent hundreds packing and raised accusations the government is failing to protect the minority.

Over 100 families from the town of Al-Arish and nearby have come to the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, 120 kilometers east of Cairo, since Friday, Nabil Shukrallah of the city’s Evangelical church said.

Families arrive scared and in need of supplies, which are being stockpiled at the church via donations from several parishes, he said. They are then transported to be housed in and around the city, in private homes and now also accommodation provided by the government.

“They’re exhausted, with urgent needs for food and children’s clothing,” he said, as one father carried off a sick infant to be evacuated by ambulance. “They’re terrified of the violence and brutality of the terrorists,” he said.

Northern Sinai has for years been the epicenter of an insurgency by Islamist militants, and the area’s few Christians have slowly been trickling out. But departures rose in earnest after suspected militants gunned down a Christian plumber at home in front of his family Thursday in Al-Arish. It was the seventh such killing in recent weeks and stoked panic among Christians.

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