‍‍Gunmen attacked a group of Coptic Christians traveling to a monastery in Egypt's southern province of Minya on Friday, killing 28 people and wounding over 20 others, said health ministry officials.

Many of the victims were children, according to the officials. 

A security guard gestures near the site of an attack that killed at least 28 people in Minya, Egypt on May 26, 2017. /Reuters Photo

"They used automatic weapons," provincial governor Essam el-Bedawi told state television.

Bedawi said that police have been deployed along the road where the attack happened and checkpoints have been set up.

Aftermath of attack on Coptic Christians in Minya, Egypt on May 26, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The gunmen intercepted the bus carrying the Coptic Christians on the way to Samuel monastery south of Cairo, and opened fire randomly, reported Xinhua news agency quoting a security source at the scene.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

In the wake of the attack, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called a meeting of security officials.