A video has emerged showing the beheadings purportedly of 21 Egyptian Christians who had been kidnapped by Islamic State (IS) militants in Libya.
The footage shows a group wearing orange overalls, being forced to the ground and then decapitated.
Egypt reserves the right to respond in any way it sees fit, its President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said.
IS militants claim to have carried out several attacks in Libya, which is in effect without a government.
However, with many armed groups operating in Libya, it is not clear how much power IS actually wields.
The kidnapped Egyptian workers, all Coptic Christians, were seized in December and January from the coastal town of Sirte in eastern Libya, now under the control of Islamist groups.
The video of the beheadings was posted online by Libyan jihadists who pledge loyalty to IS. A caption made it clear the men were targeted because of their faith.
"Egypt and the whole world are in a fierce battle with extremist groups carrying extremist ideology and sharing the same goals," President Sisi said.
The beheadings were described as "barbaric" by al-Azhar, the highly regarded theological institution which is based in Egypt.
The Coptic church said it was "confident" Egypt would exact retribution. Egypt has declared seven days of national mourning.
Libya has been in turmoil since 2011 and the overthrow of its then-leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Since then, numerous other militia groups have battled for control.
The head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency warned last month that IS was assembling "a growing international footprint that includes ungoverned and under-governed areas", including Libya.
21 Egyptians beheaded
21 Egyptians beheaded
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: 21 Egyptians beheaded
Winning friends and influencing people of all religions! Now they've got Egypt getting ready to use F-16s against them.
yrs,
rubato
yrs,
rubato
Re: 21 Egyptians beheaded
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/f ... iles-libyaEgyptian air strikes in Libya kill dozens of Isis militants
Training bases and weapons stockpiles targeted day after Islamic State militants post beheadings video
Egyptian war planes have hit jihadi targets in Libya in swift revenge for the murder of 21 Christian workers by masked militants affiliated to the Islamic State (Isis), widening the north African country’s already grave crisis.
Air strikes on weapons caches and training camps were announced on Monday by the armed forces general command in Cairo – the first time Egypt has acknowledged any kind of military intervention in its increasingly chaotic and violent western neighbour.
The attacks were “to avenge the bloodshed and to seek retribution from the killers”, a spokesman said. “Let those far and near know that Egyptians have a shield that protects them.” They followed Sunday’s release of a graphic propaganda video showing the first mass execution outside Isis’s familiar heartland in Syria and Iraq.
Egyptian air strikes killed 64 Isis fighters, including three of the leadership, in the coastal cities of Derna and Sirte, the Libyan army said. Reports reaching Tunis said at least 35 more Egyptians had been rounded up by Isis in retaliation for the morning air raids – but there was no confirmation of this from the Egyptian presidential spokesman.
Libya’s air force, under the command of the internationally-recognised government in the eastern city of Tobruk, announced that it had also launched strikes in Derna.
ISIS is doing a better job of getting the Arab countries actively engaged in fighting them than we have...
Re: 21 Egyptians beheaded
I was going to say "bomb the fuckers back into the stone age," but seeing as they've never left....
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: 21 Egyptians beheaded
Upping the ante again...
Jihadist militants from Islamic State (IS) have burned to death 45 people in the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, the local police chief says.
Exactly who these people were and why they were killed is not clear, but Col Qasim al-Obeidi said he believed some were members of the security forces.
IS fighters captured much of the town, near Ain al-Asad air base, last week.
Col Obeidi said a compound that houses the families of security personnel and local officials was now under attack.
He pleaded for help from the government and the international community.
The fighting and poor communications in the area make it difficult to confirm such reports.
Earlier this month, IS published a video showing militants burning alive a Jordanian air force pilot, whose plane crashed in Syria in December.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”