Security forces in Fayoum governorate have reported that a group of masked militants attacked a church this morning in an armed robbery leaving one security guard dead.

Police General Salah El-Azizi, head of the security directorate in Fayoum, received an alert that a group of masked militants had stopped at the Rouda church in Tamia.

According to eye witnesses the masked militants exchanged fire with guards at the church's checkpoint , killing one and injuring another, before escaping the scene after stealing the weapons of the guards at late night. 

Father Mikhail Astras from Fayoum Archbishopric told Christian-Dogma website that the church was not harmed in the attack. 

The main roads in Fayoum have reportedly been closed since the attack.