Pope Francis on Monday condemned the killing of 21 Coptic Christians hostages in Libya by militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), according to a Vatican Radio report.
“The blood of our Christian brothers is a witness that cries out,” he told a delegation from Scotland on Monday. “If they are Catholic, Orthodox, Copts, Lutherans, it is not important: They are Christians. The blood is the same: It is the blood which confesses Christ.”
The hostages, believed to be laborers from Egypt, are now “martyrs,” Francis said.
The Libyan extremist group, which swears fealty to ISIS, released a five-minute video Sunday showing militants with knives killing 21 people wearing orange jumpsuits on a beach.
Eqypt wasted little time in acting on the news:
Egyptian jets bombed Islamic State targets in Libya on Monday, a day after the group there released a
video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians, drawing Cairo directly into the conflict across its border. Egypt said the dawn strike hit militant camps, training sites and weapons storage areas in neighboring Libya, where civil conflict has plunged the country into near anarchy and created havens for armed factions.
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Libya's air force also participated in Monday's attack on Derna -- an eastern coastal city seen as a base for Islamic State fighters in the oil-rich nation.
"There are casualties among individuals, ammunition and the (Islamic State) communication centers," Libyan air force commander Saqer al-Joroushi told Egyptian state television, adding that between 40 to 50 militants were killed.
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"More air strikes will be carried out today and tomorrow in coordination with Egypt," said Joroushi, who is loyal to Libya's internationally recognized government, which has set up camp in the eastern city of Tobruk after losing control of Tripoli.
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Cairo also called on the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to broaden the scope of their operations to include Libya, highlighting how the militant group is expanding its reach around the Arab world.
The Obama administration chose to respond characteristically and predictably with words:
The Obama administration, in a statement released by press secretary Josh Earnest late Sunday, called the killing of the 21 Egyptian men a “despicable and cowardly murder” that should accelerate the need for a political resolution to the burgeoning conflict in Libya.
“We call on all Libyans to strongly reject this and all acts of terrorism and to unite in the face of this shared and growing threat,” the statement continued. “We continue to strongly support the efforts of the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General Bernardino Leon to facilitate formation of a national unity government and help foster a political solution in Libya.”
Some are waking to the threat posed by ISIS.
Some, not all.