Islamic gunmen killed at least seven Christians who were returning from baptising a child at a Coptic monastery in Egypt on Friday, officials said – the most serious attack on the minority in more than a year. Six of the dead were from the same family, and another 18 people, including children, were wounded, the Coptic Church’s spokesman said in a statement. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the ambush in Minya province in central Egypt, the militant group’s Amaq news agency said.

The attackers opened fire mid-afternoon on two buses near the Monastery of St Samuel the Confessor in Minya, 260 km (160 miles) up the River Nile from Cairo, the church spokesman said. Footage posted on social media showed bodies inside a bus with gunshot wounds.

Islamic State and affiliated groups have claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Christians, including one that killed 28 people in almost the same spot in May 2017.

Although Egypt’s army and police launched a crackdown on the militant groups in February, some of the Christian mourners said security should be tighter. On Saturday at the funeral of some of the victims, mourners spilled out of the pews screaming, sobbing and praying over six white coffins, while rejecting the condolences of members of the security services.