Violence re-erupted outside a church in Kom Ombo, Upper Egypt on Friday afternoon after security forces used teargas to disperse protesters angry at the alleged kidnap and forced conversion to Christianity of a Muslim woman.

Stones were thrown at security forces, causing a number of head injuries, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Khaled Roshdi, head of an unofficial popular committee responsible for maintaining security, said most of those who threw rocks and Molotov cocktail at the security forces were thugs.

The Saint Mar Girgis Church was attacked with Molotov cocktails on Friday morning in a dispute over a Muslim woman who was allegedly kidnapped and forcibly converted to Christianity. Others say the woman converted of her own free will.

The whereabouts of the woman is still unknown.

No deaths have been reported so far.