Egyptian air strikes 'kill 50 Isis militants' in Libya
Libya’s air force commander, Saqr al-Joroushi, told Egyptian state TV the air strikes were coordinated with the Libyan side and had killed about 50 militants.
The operation targeted training locations and weapons stockpiles belonging to Isis in Libya, Egypt’s military said, and were carried out “in response to criminal acts of terrorist elements and organisations inside and outside the country”. All of the warplanes returned safely to base, according to the military.
The raids represent the first time Egypt has acknowledged direct military involvement since Libya’s crisis began nearly four years ago with an armed uprising that toppled autocrat Muammar Gaddafi.
A Libyan security official told Associated Press that the Egyptian warplanes struck four Isis positions in the eastern city of Derna, an extremist stronghold that was taken over by an Isis affiliate last year. Two Libyan security officials told AP that civilians, including three children and two women, were killed in the strikes.
A pro-jihadi Facebook page published photographs showing a plume of smoke and damaged buildings in Derna, which it claimed were the result of the air strikes. The page, which could not be independently verified, said people had been killed in the strikes.
The video released on Sunday claims to show the killing of 21 Coptic Egyptian hostages on a beach in Libya. The online clip is shot in a similar style to previous videos published by Isis militants in the group’s core in Iraq and Syria. The self-proclaimed Islamic State seized vast chunks of territory in those two countries.
The US said the video showed the “wanton killing of innocents” and the UK foreign minister condemned the “barbaric” act.At least 21 Egyptians were kidnapped in two separate incidents in the city of Sirte, Libya, in December and January. Relatives of the hostages had previously identified the captured men in media released by Isis, including an online magazine published days ago. The video depicts several men in orange jumpsuits being led along a beach, each accompanied by a masked militant. The men are made to kneel and one militant, dressed differently from the others, addresses the camera in American-accented English.
“All crusaders: safety for you will be only wishes, especially if you are fighting us all together. Therefore, we will fight you all together,” he says. “The sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama bin Laden’s body in, we swear to Allah we will mix it with your blood.”
The men are then made to lie face down and are simultaneously beheaded. The militant speaker then points northward and says: “We will conquer Rome, by Allah’s permission.”
François Hollande, the French president, and Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, his Egyptian counterpart, called on Monday for the UN security council to meet over Libya and to take new measures. The two had discussed the situation over telephone, Hollande’s office said.
Egypt has provided clandestine support to forces allied to Libya’s internationally recognised government, which fled the capital for the eastern cities of Bayda and Tobruk last year. According to western officials, Egypt also allowed its bases to be used for air strikes in Libya in 2014. Egyptian government officials denied such military involvement.
Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are among the key supporters of Khalifa Heftar, a renegade Libyan general, now allied with the recognised government, leading a campaign against a rival Islamist-leaning government in Tripoli and its allied militias.
In the context of the chaotic civil war in Libya, armed groups claiming allegiance with Isis have claimed attacks in various parts of Libya. Libyan fighters have circulated to and from the war in Syria, and experts say Isis has sought alliances with local armed groups in Libya.
On Sunday, Sisi said on national television that Egypt reserved the right to respond to the murders in a way it saw fit. He said Cairo would choose the “necessary means and timing to avenge the criminal killings”. The Coptic church called on its followers to have “confidence that their great nation won’t rest without retribution for the evil criminals”.