Terrorist involved in beheading of Egyptian Copts killed in Libya

Cairo - 19 January 2019: Al-Mahdy Deqno, one of the three most dangerous terrorists, Libya's national army (LNA) Killed on Friday, was involved in beheading 21 Egyptian Copts in Libya in 2015.

Deqno was on the most wanted terrorists involved in several attacks and crimes including beheading the Egyptian Copts in Sirte, according to a statement issued by Fortified Structure Forces in July 2017. In February 2015, IS released a bloody and barbaric video showing execution of 21 Egyptian Copts in Sirte, which was one of the strongest strongholds for the terrorist group in Libya. In December 2016, Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA) announced defeating IS in Sirte.

As a part of the on-going wide-scale military operations against terrorists in southern Libya, the LNA forces killed the three terrorists, who are affiliated to the Islamic state militant group (IS) in Libya, said LNA spokesperson Ahmed Al-Mesmari in a statement.

Deqno, who was born in Sirte City in 1981, established a militant group known as "Desert Army" in southern Libya, said Libya's attorney general Sadek al- Sour in previous remarks in 2018. The Desert Army is a terrorist group for non-Libyan terrorists, who moved from Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan and Egypt to join the IS affiliate in Libya, Sour added.

The two other killed militants include Libyan Qaeda leader known as "Abu Talha al-Libi" and Egyptian fugitive Abdalah al-Desoky.

Al-Libi was one of the most dangerous wanted terrorists in Libya. He was accused of having links with al Qaeda group and its affiliates in sub-Saharan African countries.
In 2013, Al-Libi moved from Libya to Syria, where he joined IS and carried out several terrorist attacks. A year later, he and his wife returned to Libya, according to the statement.

The LNA announced launched a wide-scale military operation on Tuesday to liberate southern Libya from terrorists and to protect the country's oil fields from extremists’ takeover.

Since the outbreak of the 2011 uprising in Libya, that thwarted late Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, Libya has suffered chaos and security vacuum.