The attack on the Christians was led by a number of Salafists who used mosques to incite these attacks but the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has detained them for a period of more than 12 hours inside the Northern Military Zone without bringing them to trial.

Lawyer Joseph Malāk called for intervention by the police forces to protect the local residents of Sharbāt village to repulse repeated assaults on Copts there now that the security apparatus has not regained its full strength yet.

"The volume of losses from these incidents exceeded the sum of LE2 million (roughly $350,000) and the number of families harmed are about 25," said Malāk. [Rānyā Nabīl, al-Ahālī, Feb. 1, p. 3]