Islamic State releases video showing beheading of 21 Christians in Libya

Islamic State has released a video purporting to show the militant group beheading 21 Egyptian Christians kidnapped in Libya.
The video, released this afternoon, shows ISIS fighters dressed head to toe in black, marching the captives, all wearing orange jumpsuits, to a beach. The 21 men can be seen being forced onto their knees before they are beheaded by the militants standing behind them. The extremely graphic video first appeared on the Twitter feed of a website that supports Islamic State.


A caption on the five-minute video read: 'The people of the cross, followers of the hostile Egyptian church.'
Before the killings, one of the militants stood with a knife in his hand and said: 'Safety for you crusaders is something you can only wish for.'
The 21 men, Egyptian Christians working in Libya, disappeared last month, and the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the abductions shortly afterwards.
'Urgent. Soldiers of the Islamic State captured 21 Christian crusaders,' the jihadists said in a statement released alongside three pictures of the men.
Three pictures showing several men were published alongside the statement, which did not specify when the men were abducted and did not reveal their nationality.
The statement did not list any demands for the release of the men, but said they had been taken 'in various areas of Tripoli Province'.
Last month, the Egyptian foreign ministry confirmed that 20 men had been kidnapped in two separate incidents in Libya, but did not specify when they had been abducted nor their religious affiliation.
Libya has seen a rise of powerful armed militias in the wake of the downfall and death of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in the 2011 NATO-backed uprising.

Tens of thousands of Egyptians work in Libya, mainly in the construction sector, and they have been targeted as the country has descended into chaos.
Yesterday, images emerged of ISIS militants publicly executing two alleged spies and mercilessly crucifying another to a road sign in the Syrian city of Al-Bab.
On Thursday, the extremist group announced it was holding an Israeli-Arab who posed as foreign a fighter to spy for the country's intelligence agency, Mossad.