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Seven victims of sectarian clashes buried in Egypt

By the CNN Wire Staff
Funerals are being arranged for Coptic Christians who died during sectarian clashes in Cairo earlier this week
Funerals are being arranged for Coptic Christians who died during sectarian clashes in Cairo earlier this week
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • The clashes Tuesday leave 13 dead
  • The Egyptian military is launching an investigation
  • The fighting breaks out after Copts protest a church burning
RELATED TOPICS
  • Cairo (Egypt)
  • Egypt

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Mourners gathered Thursday to bury seven Coptic Christians killed in sectarian clashes that left more than a dozen dead in the Egyptian capital this week.

Thirteen people were killed and 110 wounded in fighting between Muslims and Coptic Christians in Cairo on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear how many of the victims were Christians.

The clashes broke out after Copts took to the streets to protest last week's burning of a church.

The Egyptian military has launched an investigation into the violence, said Mohamed Askar, an armed services spokesman.

A feud between a Muslim and a Coptic family is said to have led to the church burning in Helwan province last week.

Tensions have been high between Egypt's Muslim majority and its Coptic minority recently.

A Coptic church in the town of Alexandria was bombed on New Year's Day, killing 23 people. The Palestinian Islamic Army, which has links to al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for what was the deadliest attack on Christians in Egypt in recent times -- but far from the only one.

Ten days later, a gunman killed a Christian man and wounded five other Christians on a train in Egypt.

Also in January, a man was sentenced for his part in an attack on another Coptic church a year ago, Egypt's state-run Al Ahram newspaper reported.

About 9% of Egypt's 80 million residents are Coptic Christians. They base their theology on the teachings of the Apostle Mark, who introduced Christianity to Egypt, according to St. Takla Church in Alexandria, the capital of Coptic Christianity.

The religion split with other Christians in the fifth century over the definition of the divinity of Jesus Christ.

CNN's Nima Elbagir contributed to this report