A monk from the Monastery of the Archangel (Abu Khashaba) in Egypt’s Fayoum Governorate was wounded by shotgun fire on Thursday evening in an incident that occurred outside the monastery and is reportedly linked to a long-running dispute over adjacent land. Prosecutors continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack.
According to accounts circulating locally, Fr. Yostos al-Naqlouni was leaving the monastery in a pickup truck together with Fr. Azer al-Naqlouni when two men approached them, one of the men allegedly fired a shotgun at the vehicle, striking Fr. Yostos in the leg. Contrary to claims circulated on social media that the assailants were masked, they appear to have been unmasked.
After contacting fellow monks, they rushed outside the monastery walls and summoned an ambulance. They also apprehended one individual reportedly connected to the shooting, who was said to be among those assigned to guard the disputed land after its cultivated crops had previously been removed. The suspect was handed over to police, who recovered spent shotgun cartridges from the scene.
Police later arrested the two alleged shooters and referred them to the Public Prosecution, while forensic examinations and witness interviews remain ongoing.
According to the monastery’s attorney, Tamer Magdy, Fr. Yostos was transferred to Fayoum General Hospital, where shotgun pellets were removed from his leg. His condition is reported to be stable. Bishop Anba Abram, Metropolitan of Fayoum, visited the injured monk during the early hours of Friday morning.
A church source stressed that the attack did not occur inside the monastery but outside its walls, adding that the land at the center of the dispute remains the subject of ongoing litigation between the New Fayoum City Authority, affiliated with the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), on the one hand, and the monastery, on the other. The monastery had submitted a renewed request to legalize ownership of approximately 40 feddans (about 41.5 acres) of land, but the request was rejected. According to the source, negotiations have not yet been concluded.
The Public Prosecution continues to hear testimony from all parties involved, including the monastery’s steward, Fr. Azer al-Naqlouni, and the individual initially detained by the monks, as investigators seek to establish the full circumstances of the shooting. A statement on the outcome of the investigation is expected.
According to the church source, since the removal of the disputed agricultural land, the New Fayoum City Authority has employed residents from nearby villages in the Itsa district to guard the property. Church representatives have renewed calls for the Minister of Housing to intervene in order to resolve the land dispute and legalize the area adjoining the monastery’s perimeter, arguing that doing so is necessary to protect the monastery’s immediate surroundings.
Interior Ministry Statement
In a statement issued following the circulation of a social media video claiming that two masked men had opened fire on a monastery, the Ministry of Interior said that the incident occurred on 26 June while two monks were driving past a parcel of land adjacent to the monastery that had previously been recovered by the state and transferred to the competent authorities as state-owned property. According to the Ministry, the monks were confronted by two private security guards, one of whom fired a shotgun, causing one of the monks to sustain pellet wounds to his left foot.
The Ministry stated that both suspects had been identified and arrested, legal measures had been taken against them, and that the Public Prosecution had assumed responsibility for the investigation while police inquiries continue.
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Sources:
https://www.copts-united.com/Article.php?I=6317
https://www.wataninet.com/2026/06/الداخلية-تكشف-
Photo credit: Watani
