Egypt Launches Air Strike in Retaliation Against IS Murders

In retaliation against the brutal killing of 21 Egyptian Christians by the Islamic State (IS) group in Libya, the Egyptian Air Force announced in a statement this morning that it has successfully conducted air strikes against the terrorist group.

On Sunday evening, Islamic State released a graphic video depicting a group of Egyptian Copts, who had been kidnapped, being beheaded, execution-style, on a beach that was said to be in Libya’s Tripoli. The video shows the men being marched down the beach, dressed in orange jumpsuits with their hands tied behind their backs. The men were then made to kneel on the ground before being simultaneously beheaded. The video, titled A Message Signed with Blood to the Nation of the Cross, has a member of the Islamic State speaking, vowing to fight against ‘crusaders’ and ends with an image of the sea water mixed with blood.

El Sisi confirmed the deaths of the Egyptian hostages and said last night that Egypt reserves the right to retaliate against the brutal murder, as well as declaring a week of mourning in Egypt. This morning, the Egyptian army announced it had officially launched air strikes against Islamic state targets in Libya, including training camps. The army issued a statement saying "We believe that avenging the blood of Egyptians, and extracting retribution from the killers and criminals is a duty we have to carry out." It also said that the airstrikes were successful and that the fighter jets had returned safely to Egypt and state television aired footage of the planes taking off, below: