Bodies of Copts executed by IS in Libya found: FM Spokesman

CAIRO – 7 October 2017: Egyptian government confirmed on Saturday that the Libyan authorities have found the bodies of the Egyptian Christians who were killed by Islamic state in 2015,Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid told Egypt Today on Saturday.


Dead bodies of the Egyptian Christians killed by Islamic state in 2015- Press Photo of Libya's criminal investigation department

Abu Zeid stated that the Egyptian Embassy in Libya coordinated with the Libyan authorities to secure the return of the dead bodies to Egypt.


Dead bodies of the Egyptian Christians killed by Islamic state in 2015- Press Photo of Libya's criminal investigation department

The Islamic state released a video on February 15, 2015 showing Egyptian Coptic Christians 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.


Dead bodies of the Egyptian Christians killed by Islamic state in 2015- Press Photo of Libya's criminal investigation department


Once the branch of 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 airstrike of alleged havens of 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.