Egyptian and Libyan warplanes carried out airstrikes Monday against the Islamic State group in eastern Libya, the militaries said, in retaliation for militants beheading 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were kidnapped in Libya.
The bombings targeting militant camps and weapons storage sites in the town of Darna came hours after the Islamic State group released a video purporting to show the killings.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi had pledged in a televised speech to respond to the beheadings, calling them an “abhorrent act of terrorism.”
“Egypt reserves the right of retaliation, and with the methods and timing it sees fit for retribution from those murderers and criminals who are without the slightest humanity,” Sissi said.
Sissi also spoke by phone Monday with French President Francois Hollande, whose office said the men discussed the importance of the U.N. Security Council taking new actions to face the danger posed by the Islamic State group.
