Twelve people killed as Muslims and Christians clash in Cairo

At least 12 people were killed and nearly 200 others injured in Cairo as months of tensions between Christians and Muslims in erupted into violence, reigniting fears that Egypt's uprising could degenerate into bloody sectarian strife.

The pitched street battles in Imbaba, a poor district of western Cairo, continued into the early hours of yesterday, and two Coptic churches were set ablaze in a night of unrest. The trouble began on Saturday after a rumour spread around the neighbourhood that a woman was being held against her will in the Saint Menas Church because she had married a Muslim man and wanted to convert.

The claim was denied by Christians at the church and never substantiated, but by nightfall several hundred members of the Salafi movement – a hardline branch of Islam which has become increasingly vocal since the fall of the former president Hosni Mubarak in February – had gathered in the street outside.

After barricading themselves inside the church, the Christians were attacked by Salafists, who hurled petrol bombs at homes and shops and torched the front of the church building.

Gunfire rang out around the area as the two sides hurled stones and bricks at each other. Riot police and soldiers arrived later and fired tear gas to try to disperse the crowds, while another nearby church, the Virgin Mary Church, was also torched. "The people who did this were from outside the area. But we have nothing but love to give and we don't want anybody killed in return," said Misak Gameel, a priest who works at the Saint Menas Church. "The gates of hell themselves couldn't destroy this church. We blame the army and the police. They didn't deal with the Salafis and thugs as required." Just a few yards away from the alter in Saint Menas Church, where a large painting depicting the resurrection of Christ hangs on a nearby wall, the floor was sticky with blood.

"They were putting injured people inside the church," said Awatef Saad, a 44-year-old nurse. "There must have been 100 people in total. We were trying to stitch all the wounds but there were so many injuries."

Some of the dead were also brought to the church. One was a middle-aged man called Medhat Magdy. "He was shot in the neck," Ms Saad said. "I found his body at the alter when I arrived at the church."

George Ishak, a prominent Christian pro-democracy activist who visited Saint Menas Church yesterday, said: "There is a very tense atmosphere in our country between the Muslims and the Christians. What happened on Saturday was a very bad thing. We don't accept it. Why is there so much anger? Where is it coming from? It's unbelievable how people can treat each other."

Egypt's government moved swiftly to try to quell the unrest, with Prime Minister Essam Sharaf cancelling a tour of Gulf Arab states to chair a cabinet meeting where it was decided to deploy more security forces near religious sites and toughen laws criminalising attacks on places of worship. The military, struggling to maintain security and public support in the aftermath of protests earlier this year, said that 190 people would be tried in military courts over Saturday's violence.

Recent sectarian unrest

7 January 2010: Three gunmen armed with automatic weapons open fire on a crowd outside a church in Nag Hammadi, near the ancient city of Luxor. The attack, after a Coptic Christmas Eve service, killed eight Christians and a Muslim security guard.

1 January 2011: A bomb rips through crowds outside Al Qiddissin church in Alexandria as worshippers left a packed New Year's Eve midnight Mass, killing 21 people and injuring almost 100.

8 March 2011: At least 13 people killed as Muslims and Christians clash in a Cairo suburb. Christians were protesting after Muslims allegedly set fire to a church south of the capital, after a feud sparked by an affair between a married Muslim woman and a Christian man.

14 April 2011: The appointment of Emad Mikhail, a Coptic Christian, as governor of the southern city of Qena sparked nearly a fortnight of angry protests. Mr Mikhail was suspended on 25 April to appease demonstrators.