To honor the memory of the 21 Egyptians who were beheaded by ISIS in Libya earlier this year, Egyptian authorities will construct a church in Minya, the homeland of the slain Coptic Christians.
All plans are finalized and licenses have been issued for the Church of Martyrs and construction will begin soon. The church, which will be built in Al-Awar village in the Samalout district, has raised 5 million Egyptian pounds so far. However, The construction of the monument will require at least 10 million pounds.
The rest of the funding will be raised while the construction is ongoing. Maj. Gen. Gamal Mubaral Qinawy said the initial construction of the church was delayed while the licenses were being acquired from the Agriculture Ministry and therefore, further delay to the construction is not permissible.
In February of 2015, a brutal video was released online by ISIS, showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians and another African Christian.
The Egyptian Armed Forces, under the command of President Sisi, has since been fighting terrorism on Egyptian soil and are actively fighting ISIS, its affiliates, and extremists.