Quiet prevailed in the village of Mīt Bashār on Wednesday (February 15) after a heated night of confrontations between security forces and local residents, leaving five anti-riot policemen wounded, over the disappearance of a Coptic girl of the name Rānyā Khalīl Ibrāhīm, who converted to Islam six months ago.

The street leading to the village church has turned into a battlefield as young men tried to attack and set ablaze the church and hurled Molotov cocktails on the central security personnel who were surrounding the church to protect it.

Security forces fired tear gas to disperse the protesting local residents.

“Muslim elders in the village formed a human shield to protect the church,” said Salāmah Muhyī al-Dīn, adding the girl has moved to live with her father who had converted to Islam two years ago, left his Christian wife, married to a Muslim and changed his name to Khalīl Ibrāhīm Muhammad ‘Abd Allāh.