MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Ten Egyptians were reportedly kidnapped in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday, as cited by the local Cairo Post.
This comes after the Libyan cell of the Islamic State militant group reportedly beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in the North African country, as well as Egypt's series of air raids against ISIL targets in Libya.
A video showing the brutal killings of 21 Coptic men was posted online last Sunday. They were reportedly kidnapped from the northern Libyan port city of Sirte in January and December.
The Islamic State has a stronghold in Libya's city of Derna, where local fighters have pledged allegiance to the militant group after it made considerable territorial gains in Syria and Iraq.