IS executes elderly Copt, threatens 'crusaders' worldwide and supporters of the Egyptian army

CAIRO – 18 April 2021: A 62-year-old Copt was executed by the Islamic State (IS) in a video released on Sunday, where IS militants threatened Christians of Egypt and warned them that their fate will be like their elderly victim.

Nabil Habashy Salama said in the video he had been in IS’s captivity for over three months. He added that he established a church in Beir el-Abd town in North Sinai, and that the Orthodox Church in Egypt collaborates with the army and intelligence to fight IS. He was killed with a single bullet to the back of his head as he was kneeling while the militants stood behind him.

In a message to “all crusaders in the world,” the militants said “As you kill, you will be killed, and as you capture, you will be captured.” In their message to Copts in Egypt, they said the Egyptian military “will not get you anywhere.”

The militants said the military has a “long bill” to pay, vowing to go to war against the army, especially in Sinai. Addressing people who support the army and calling them “apostates,” they said the army “cannot even protect itself, oh fools, we have come to you with cut-throats.”