Egypt Strikes Libya after ’ISIL’ Executes 21 Copts, Releases Video
Local Editor
Egypt carried out air strikes against "ISIL" group targets in Libya on Monday after the terrorists posted a video showing the decapitation of 21 Coptic Christians, the military said.
"Your armed forces on Monday carried out focused air strikes in Libya against Daesh camps, places of gathering and training, and weapons depots," the military said in a statement, using the Arabic acronym for "ISIL".
State television showed footage of Egyptian fighter jets it said were taking off to conduct the strikes.
Egypt's President Abdel el-Sisi said Cairo "reserves the right to respond in any way" to the killing of 21 Copts by Daesh militants. The extremist group has released a graphic video showing the beheadings of the Copts that were kidnapped in Libya.
Sisi warned that Cairo would choose the "necessary means and timing to avenge the criminal killings" as he spoke on state television in the wake of the surfaced footage of the brutal executions.
The Copts - native Christians of Egypt - are shown in the video dressed in orange jumpsuits with their hands tied behind their backs, while being walked along the seaside by jihadists dressed in black. The Egyptian men are then forced to kneel before being beheaded.
A caption on the five-minute video read: "The people of the cross, followers of the hostile Egyptian church."
Before the killings, one of the militants stood with a knife in his hand and said: "Safety for you crusaders is something you can only wish for."
The Coptic Church confirmed that 21 Egyptian Christians believed to have been held by "ISIL" are dead, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported.
Following the release of the video, al-Sisi called urgent security talks. Egypt has announced seven days of mourning.
The Egyptian Foreign Affairs Ministry banned travel to Libya following the killings on Sunday.
The "ISIL" militants first published the images of the 21 Copts on Thursday, in the group's Dabiq magazine. The men were reportedly abducted in the Libyan city of Sirte on two separate occasions - seven on December 31 and 14 on January 3.
Later on Thursday, Cairo began to evacuate all Egyptian citizens wishing to return from Libya, and has renewed a travel alert to the neighboring country. At the same time, the Egyptian presidential office issued a statement vowing to return the kidnapped citizens.
The group has previously performed similar executions of Jordanian, Japanese, American, British, and French hostages, which were also filmed and published on social media.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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