Egypt Bombs ISIL Targets in Libya after Mass Beheadings
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Egypt's military said it carried out air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in Libya, a day after the group released a video appearing to show the beheading of 21 Egyptians there.
In a statement aired on state television, the military said the attacks were carried out at dawn on Monday.
The attacks focused on ISIL camps, training sites and weapons storage areas across Egypt's border in Libya, where armed groups have thrived amid chaos, the statement said.
"The air strikes hit their targets precisely, and the falcons of our air forces returned safely to their bases," the military's statement said.
"We affirm that avenging Egyptian blood and retaliating against criminals and killers is a duty we must carry out."
Libyan war planes loyal to the official government also took part in the air strikes, an official said on Monday.
coordination with Egypt," commander Saqer al-Joroushi told al-Arabiya television.
Fighters pledging allegiance to ISIL released a video on Sunday purporting to show the killing of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped in Libya.
The Egyptian government and the Coptic Church confirmed the authenticity of the footage, which showed the Egyptian workers, all wearing orange jump suits, being beheaded near a waterfront said to be located in the Libyan province of Tripoli.
The men were seized in two attacks in December and January from the coastal town of Sirte in eastern Libya, Al Jazeera reported.
In the wake of the video release, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called for an urgent meeting of Egypt's top national security team and declared seven days of mourning.
"Egypt reserves the right to respond in a suitable way and time to punish these murderers," Sisi said in a televised speech.
The Coptic Orthodox Church issued a statement saying it was "confident" the killers would be brought to justice.
