Christian killed in Egypt's Islamic State bastion

A Coptic Christian was shot dead on Thursday and his house set on fire in Egypt's North Sinai, a stronghold of the Islamic State group, security officials and medics said.

It was the third death this week linked to extremists in violence against the minority community.

The 40-year-old man was shot in the neck at his home in El-Arish, the provincial capital of restive North Sinai. 

His death comes a day after two Coptic Christians, a father and his son, were found murdered behind a school in El-Arish.

IS, which has mostly targeted Egypt's security forces since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, warned on Sunday it would set its sights on the country's Christians.

On December 11, the extremists claimed a suicide bombing during a service in a Coptic church in Cairo, killing 29 people.

Copts, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's 90-million population, say they are sidelined both in the education system and state institutions, and are often targeted by extremists.