Rioters set fire to Copt shops

ANGRY Muslims attacked and destroyed shops owned by Coptic Christians yesterday in a town in southern Egypt that has been witnessing sectarian tensions, a police official said.

The attackers hurled stones and set fire to several shops, smashed windows of a church and damaged two cars in the early morning hours before the shops in Isna were opened for business, said the police official.

Police detained 15 people suspected of taking part in the attacks in Isna, located about 560km south of Cairo, he said.