Egypt Attacks ISIS Targets in Libya

[Amir_Pharaoh]

Egypt reported that its war planes had struck Isis targets in Libya, shortly after President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi vowed revenge for the release by Isis-affiliated militants of a video of a mass killing of Christians.

A spokesman for the Armed Forces General Command announced the strikes on state radio Monday, marking the first time Cairo had publicly acknowledged taking military action in neighbouring Libya.

The statement said the warplanes targeted weapons caches and training camps before returning safely. It said the strikes were “to avenge the bloodshed and to seek retribution from the killers”.
“Let those far and near know that Egyptians have a shield that protects them,” it said.

Libya’s air force meanwhile announced it had launched strikes in the eastern city of Darna, which was taken over by an Isis affiliate last year. The announcement, on the Facebook page of the air force chief of staff, did not provide further details.

The video, released on Sunday evening, claimed to show the mass beheading of 21 Christians – believed to be mostly Egyptians – kidnapped in Libya.

The US said the video showed the “wanton killing of innocents” and the UK foreign minister condemned the “barbaric” act.

The five-minute video was filmed in a style similar to that of previous videos depicting the murders of western prisoners by Isis, an armed group that overran large parts of Iraq and Syria last year

 

[Khalid Newazi]

There's already a thread on it.

 

[Amir_Pharaoh]

There's already a thread on it.

Something wrong .. I couldn't find it .. can you kindly add the link

 

[Frogman]

Something wrong .. I couldn't find it .. can you kindly add the link

Egypt: Strikes In Response Libya IS Beheadings

Itfadal ya basha, rod 3alaya fel Facebook please. I sent you a message.

 

[Amir_Pharaoh]

Egypt: Strikes In Response Libya IS Beheadings

Itfadal ya basha, rod 3alaya fel Facebook please. I sent you a message.

Thanks brother .. no message has been received yet on fb

 

[Zarvan]

Egypt unleashes strikes on ISIS targets in Libya

In a recent military move, Egypt has become the first foreign buyer of French Rafale fighter jets. (File photo: AP)
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Sisi had given a televised address, saying that Egypt and the world are facing “ferocious threats.” (Egyptian state TV)

On Sunday, ISIS released a video purportedly showing the beheading of 21 Egyptians captured in Libya. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called an urgent meeting of Egypt’s top national security body after the video was released.

"The air strikes hit their targets precisely, and the falcons of our air forces returned safely to their bases," the military's statement said.

"We affirm that avenging Egyptian blood and retaliating against criminals and killers is a duty we must carry out."


Men in orange jumpsuits purported to be Egyptian Christians held captive by the ISIS are marched by armed men along a beach said to be near Tripoli, in this still image from an undated video made available on social media on February 15, 2015. (Reuters)

Following the release of the video, Sisi had given a televised address, saying that Egypt and the world are facing “ferocious threats” hailing from radical militants, who are “devoid of any humane sense.”

He said his country reserved the right to “punish these murderers” as he called a meeting of security chiefs and declared seven days of mourning after the video was distributed by militants on social media.

Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox church said it was “confident” that those who purportedly beheaded a group of Egyptian Copts in Libya will be punished.

“The Orthodox church ... is confident its homeland would not rest until the evil perpetrators get their fair retribution for their wicked crime,” the Coptic church said in a statement on its Facebook page.

On Sunday, militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)


Family member of one of 27 Egyptian Coptic Christian workers who have been kidnapped in the Libyan city of Sirte, sits crying in front of a banner with pictures of the workers, in Cairo. (Reuters)


The footage shows 21 handcuffed hostages wearing orange jumpsuits being beheaded by their black-suited captors on a beach the group said was in the Libyan province of Tripoli.

In a separate development, the United States condemned as “despicable” the beheading of the 21 men.

“The United States condemns the despicable and cowardly murder of twenty-one Egyptian citizens in Libya by ISIS-affiliated terrorists,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

“ISIS’s barbarity knows no bounds. It is unconstrained by faith, sect, or ethnicity,” Earnest added, saying the latest bloodshed “only further galvanizes the international community to unite against ISIS”.


Family members of 27 Egyptian Coptic Christian workers kidnapped in the Libyan city of Sirte, take part in a sit-in inside the compound of Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral to call for the release of their relatives, in Cairo. (Reuters)

“This heinous act once again underscores the urgent need for a political resolution to the conflict in Libya,” Earnest said.



[With AFP]

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...confident-Copt-killers-will-be-punished-.html