Gunmen kill Coptic Christian in Egypt's northern Sinai

Gunmen shot dead a Coptic man in the north of the turbulent Sinai Peninsula on Saturday in the latest attack on the beleaguered Christian minority.

Earlier in January, two Egyptian Christians were shot dead by a gunman as they celebrated the New Year at a liquor store.

The shooting came three days after a gunman killed nine people at a church south of the capital and follows a spate of attacks on Christians in the country.

In the latest attack, officials said three masked gunmen shot dead 35-year-old Bassem Attallah.

No group has claimed responsibility for the shooting, which bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State group who are spearheading an insurgency in northern Sinai.

IS militants have killed more than 100 Coptic Christians in a series of deadly bombings and shootings since December 2016.

Egypt's Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of the country's 93 million people, and are the largest religious minority in the region.

Copts have long complained of institutional discrimination and intermittent sectarian attacks.