Libya announces eliminating terrorist Mahdi Dango who was involved in killing 21 Copts

CAIRO – 7 September 2022:  Libya’s special operations force announced, on Wednesday killing the terrorist Mahdi Dango, who was involved in the Kidnapping and beheading of 21 Egyptian Christian workers that in the city of Sirte, in 2015.

In a statement, the Libyan army confirmed that the operation took place after a series of investigation.

Mahdi Dango who is affiliated to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, is considered one of the most dangerous terrorist elements, as he was proved to be involved in several operations and crimes, including the massacre of the Egyptian Copts.

The Libyan army stated that during this operation, the terrorist Asman Nour, who was accompanying the Dango, was arrested.

IS released a video on February 15, 2015 showing Egyptian Coptic Christians, who were constructions workers, in orange jumpsuits being led along a beach, each accompanied by a masked militant. Later in the video, the men are made to kneel as another militant addressed the camera in English before the men are simultaneously beheaded.

Once the branch of the IS group in Libya released the video, the Egyptian National Defense Council, after holding a meeting with the President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, took the decision to launch airstrikes of alleged havens of the IS group in Libya’s eastern city of Derna.

The operation was conducted in cooperation with the Libyan Army using six fighter jets of F-16C block 52.