Islamic State released a video on Feb. 15, Sunday, claiming to show the beheading of 21 Christian Egyptians who were kidnapped in Libya.
In the video released online, the handcuffed captives are dressed in orange jump suits as they are marched by militants in black to a seashore the group said was near Libya's capital city, Tripoli. Before they were beheaded, the captives were forced down onto their knees.
The spokesman for the Coptic Church confirmed that the 21 Christian Egyptians believed to be held captive by ISIS militants were dead, according to Egypt's state news agency MENA, as cited by Reuters.
As the Coptic Church showed confidence with the ability of the Cairo government to seek justice, the center of Islamic learning in Egypt called Al Azhar condemned the beheading and described it as "barbaric" and no religion would accept it.
With this violence, Cairo's concerns over security threats from militants thriving in the neighboring country's chaos are likely to be deepened.
Because of this, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi an urgent meeting of Egypt's top national security body on the same day ISIS militants released the video.
In a television speech, the Egyptian leader said that Egypt and the world are facing "ferocious threats" from radical militants he described as "devoid of any humane sense." Moreover, he announced a seven-day mourning period in Egypt and said the country is "capable" in facing this threat and Egyptians are no longer permitted to travel to Libya, Al Arabiya News reported.
In 2011, thousands of Egyptians traveled to Libya for employment.