At least 26 people, including children are dead and dozens more, were killed after masked gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Coptic Christians in Egypt.
Up to 10 masked attackers dressed in military uniforms stopped a convoy in Minya province, 140 miles south of Cairo, as the group headed
towards
Saint Samuel the Confessor Monastery in Maghagha
to pray.
The gunmen used automatic weapons to spray the bus with bullets before fleeing.
Only three of the children travelling with the worshippers survived.
The group was travelling in two buses and a truck
from the nearby province of Bani Suief. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which came on the eve of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
It comes after ISIS claimed responsibility for three deadly church attacks in December and April that claimed the lives of dozens of people.
The jihadists threatened more attacks against the Arab country's Christians,
who make up around 10 per cent of its population of about 90 million.
Egypt has been fighting ISIS militants who have waged an insurgency, mainly focused in the volatile north of the Sinai Peninsula but there have been also attacks on the mainland.
The country has seen a wave of attacks on its Christians, including twin suicide bombings in April and another attack in December on a Cairo church that left over 75 people dead and scores wounded. ISIS in Egypt claimed responsibility for them and vowed more attacks.
Late last month Pope Francis visited Egypt in part to show his support for the Christians of this Muslim majority Arab nation who have been increasingly targeted by Islamic militants.
During the trip, Francis paid tribute to the victims of the December bombing at Cairo's St. Peter's church, which is located in close proximity to the St Mark's cathedral, the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Following the pope's visit, the ISIS affiliate in Egypt vowed to escalate attacks against Christians, urging Muslims to steer clear of Christian gatherings and western embassies as they are targets of their group's militants.
Egypt's Copts, the Middle East's largest Christian community, have repeatedly complained of suffering discrimination, as well as outright attacks, at hands of the country's majority Muslim population.
Over the past decades, they have been the immediate targets of Islamic extremists.
They rallied behind general-turned-president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, in 2013 when he ousted his Islamist predecessor Mohammed Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood group.
Attacks on Christian homes, businesses and churches subsequently surged, especially in the country's south.