On May 26, buses plying Coptic Christian pilgrims to a monastery in Egypt’s Minya governorate were waylaid by masked gunmen. The ambushers ordered passengers out, lined them up and demanded that they recite the Shahada, the Muslim profession of faith. Those who refused or couldn’t do so were shot point blank. Twenty-nine innocent civilians, including children, were killed in cold blood. It was another busy working day for holy warriors of the Islamic State (ISIS), which claimed one of its “security detachments” had carried out the act. On May 22, a Libyan ISIS operative arrived outside a packed musical concert arena in Manchester, northern England, and blew himself up with powerful explosives. Altogether 22 civilians, including children, who had come for a night of entertainment were killed. ISIS proudly owned up and eulogised “one of the soldiers of the Caliphate” who succeeded in “terrorising the polytheists in response to their transgressions against the homes of Muslims”. Menacingly, ISIS also threatened “what is coming is tougher and worse for the worshippers of the Cross and their helpers”.