The Islamic State is now claiming responsibility for the recent terror attack in Sinai that killed 29 Christians and injured around two dozen more.
Egypt responds to the attack on Coptic Christians with an airtstrike on what it says are training bases for terrorists in Libya.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi ordered the retaliation just hours after learning of the attack.
"What you've seen today will not go unpunished. An extremely painful strike has been dealt to the bases. Egypt will never hesitate to strike terror bases anywhere," el-Sissi said in a televised address to the nation.
He's also called on the United States and President Donald Trump to lead the war on terror.
It was the fourth attack on Egyptian Christians since December.
Between 10 and 12 gunmen reportedly opened fire on a two buses carrying Coptic Christians south of the Egyptian capital Friday, killing 29 according to the most recent reports.
A survivor said the attackers were masked and were wearing what appeared to be military uniforms.
"We were 40 people, including children in the bus," said the survivor.
The Coptic Christians were on their way to pray at the remote monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor, about 140 miles south of Cairo.
"They used automatic weapons," Essam el-Bedawi, the governor of Minya, told Egypt's state media.
Egyptian television showed pictures of a bus with its windows shot out and people injured in the attack being rushed to hospital.
Egypt's tiny Christian minority, which makes up about 10 percent of the population, has repeatedly been targeted by various Islamic groups.
In early February, ISIS released a video calling Egyptian Christians their"favorite prey" and told its followers that they were under Allah's orders "to kill every infidel."
Then last month, ISIS militants killed at least 45 people in two church bombings on Palm Sunday.
"The growing number of these terror attacks is not at all reassuring," Father Rafic Greiche, spokesman for the Egyptian Catholic church, told a local television station.
Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi called for an emergency security meeting following today's attack which also brought swift condemnation from around the world.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit condemned "in the strongest terms" the terrorist attack, expressing the league's "full solidarity" with Egypt against terrorism.
Iraq's foreign ministry denounced the "heinous terrorist" attack in a statement, adding that Baghdad "stands by the Egyptian people and government against all extremist and terrorist groups."
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office also released a statement strongly condemning the attack and conveyed "condolences from the Israeli people to the Egyptian people."
Prime Ministers of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden have also condemned the attack.
In the United States, House Speaker Paul Ryan Tweeted: "Awful attack on Coptic Christians driving to their place of worship in Egypt. Praying for them. We must bring those responsible to justice."
North Carolina's congressman Robert Pittenger released the following statement:
"The heinous attack on Coptic Christians...again reveals the dreadful reality of the ominous threat of Islamic terrorists on all who do not subscribe to this diabolical cult. We must be vigilant and unified to eliminate this enemy."
If the world doesn't do more in defense of persecuted Christians we will see tens of thousands more die, quickly. bit.ly/2roP9WH
Dr. Robert Jeffress, a radio host and senior pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas, said president Trump was right when he described in his speech on Islam in Saudi Arabia that the war against radical Islamic terrorism was a "battle between good and evil."
"If the world doesn't do more in defense of persecuted Christians we are going to see tens of thousands more die, quickly," Jeffress said in a statement. "Let's be clear: Islamic terrorists want to do to Christians in Egypt exactly what they did to them in Iraq and in Syria."
In fact they are already doing it. In the past few months, hundreds ofChristian families have fled the Sinai Peninsula after several Christians were killed by ISIS militants for their faith.
The Islamic State even warned Muslims to "stay away from Christian gatherings" saying more massacres were being planned.
"Hundreds of families have already been displaced from North Sinai, and multiple suicide bombings have killed dozens already this year," Jeffress said. "Christians in the west must speak up more loudly for Christians in the east, and we mustn't forget that the terrorists would kill everyone of us if they had the chance."
Today's attack comes on the eve of Islam's holy month of Ramadan. For the next 30 days, Muslims around the world will pray and fast as an opportunity to cleanse their mind, body and spirit.
Christians worldwide are also being urged to join in by praying for Muslims during this time. An initiative called 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World asks Christians to "make an intentional but respectful effort during that period to learn about, pray for and reach out to Muslim neighbors."
The group publishes a booklet in multiple languages to help Christians pray more effectively for Muslims.
"The booklet contains daily readings that focus on various topics, people groups and geographical areas of the Islamic world," the website says.
"Each day's subject focus is followed by prayer points. It also features informative background articles and resources for involvement."
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