Islamic State Bombed in Libya

Egypt’s air force bombed Islamic State targets inside Libya on Monday, a day after the group released a video appearing to show the beheading of 21 Egyptians there. It was the first time Egypt confirmed launching air strikes against the group in neighboring Libya, suggesting President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is ready to escalate his battle against militants seeking to topple his government. The military said the dawn strike, in which Libya’s air force also participated, hit Islamic State camps, training sites and weapons storage areas in Libya, where a civil conflict has plunged the country into near anarchy. “The strike achieved its targets accurately” and the pilots returned to base safely, the Egyptian military said, as state television ran brief footage of a fighter plane taking off in darkness. The 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians, who had gone to Libya in search of jobs, were marched to a beach, forced to kneel and then beheaded, according to the video, broadcast via a website that supports Islamic State. In a phone call to Al Arabiya television, Brigadier Saqer al-Joroushi, the commander of the air force loyal to Libya’s official government, said Libya had coordinated and joined Egypt in the strikes in the eastern city of Derna.

Denisha Sahadevan