CAIRO - Gunmen opened fire on buses carrying Coptic Christians south of the Egyptian capital on Friday, killing 26 people and wounding 25, health ministry said.

Some ten unknown gunmen in three four-wheel-drive vehicles, intercepted the victims' two buses, on the way to St. Samuel Monastery in the Minya governorate, about 220 kilometers south of Cairo, and opened fire randomly, a security source told Xinhua.

The attackers dressed in security uniform, said eyewitnesses.

"It was a religious trip," Xinhua reporter quoted a security source at the scene as saying.

Security checkpoints have been deployed after the incident and a manhunt operation has started, said the interior ministry.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi convened a security meeting to discuss the consequences of the shooting attack, a presidential press office said.

No group yet claimed responsibility for attack.

About 70 Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population of 92 million, have been killed in bomb attacks on churches in the cities of Cairo, Alexandria and Tanta since December.

Those attacks were claimed by Islamic State (IS).

In an IS video released on May 19, the group renewed its pledges for targeting non-Muslims anywhere.

"The attack targets stability of Egypt," said Ahmad Al Tayyeb, sheikh Al-Azhar, the Sunni seat in Egypt, asking the Egyptians to unit to face the heinous terrorism.

Leaders of Saudi, UAE and Palestine condemned the attack strongly, saying they stand beside Egypt's people and government in combating terrorism.