10-year-old Egyptian boy recounts death of his Christian father at the hands of ISIS

A 10-year-old Egyptian schoolboy, who survived an attack carried out by the Islamic State terror group in May, recently recounted how the militants killed his father and dozens of other Coptic Christians.

Mina Habib's father was one of the 29 Coptic Christians who were massacred on May 26 while they were on their way to a monastery in Minya in southern Egypt. In an interview with Reuters, the 10-year-old schoolboy said that it was pure chance that he and his 14-year-old brother Marco were spared.

"We saw dead people, just dumped on the ground," Mina narrated. "They asked my father for identification then told him to recite the Muslim profession of faith. He refused, said he was Christian. They shot him and everyone else with us in the car," he continued.

Mina, who is currently receiving therapy at a local church, noted that the militants killed other children, but he does not know why they spared him and his brother.

"They saw us in the back of the truck. They made us get down and a man wearing camouflage like the army pointed his gun at us, but another one in all black told him to let us go. Every time they shot someone they would yell God is great," he recounted.

The boy said that there were about 15 gunmen, and they had Egyptian accents. He further noted that all of the militants wore masks except for two men who did not have beards.

According to Reuters, three vehicles were attacked that day, with a bus and a car with children and families being the first targets.

The militants reportedly took the women's gold and jewelry and killed all the men. The gunmen fired at the feet of women and killed some of the children.

When the gunmen's vehicle had a flat tire, they took the truck being driven by Mina's father, Adel Habib, and killed the Christian workers who were riding with him.

After the militants left, Marco stopped a car on the road and put Mina in it to get him to safety.

The two boys are now being kept by their mother at home, and they are only allowed to go out for therapy in church.

The incident in Minya was the most recent attack on Egypt's minority Coptic community, which has been targeted by Islamic radicals for years.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had promised to crush the militants and protect Christians, but some Copts feel that the state is failing to fulfill the president's promise.

The Copts have pleaded with the president to protect them and to increase support for the families of the victims.