isis
Jet fighter bombers of the Egyptian air force launched early morning air strikes in Libya targeting Islamic State (Isis) positions after the militant group beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi President vowed to carry out revenge attacks on Isis after the video was released showing the brutal murders of the Egyptians. The air strike came shortly after al-Sisi promised strong retaliation against the Islamist militants.
The air strike focused on Islamic State camps, training sites and weapons storage areas across Egypt's border with Egypt where Islamist militants have thrived amid chaos persisting since the overthrow of Moammar Khadaffy's government in 2011.
President al-Sisi warned his country would respond to the deaths as it saw fit. He spoke on national television hours after the release of the video. He said Cairo would choose the necessary means and timing to avenge the criminal killings.
The Libyan military also invited Egypt to carry out the aerial bombardment in Libya not just against the IS but also against other militias.
"We strongly support Egyptian military intervention to strike Daaesh [IS] and other terrorist groups. Libyans are helping the Egyptian army to take revenge on these terrorist forces because Cairo is considered to be a Libyan city," said Libya's top army general Khalifa Haftar to Egyptian television channel Dream.
In the video released by Isis, militants in black marched the captives dressed in orange jump suits to a beach near Tripoli. The Egyptians were forced down onto their knees then beheaded.
