Egypt’s Foreign Ministry is investigating the authenticity of pictures purportedly showing the Egyptian abductees in Libya, the Ministry Spokesman Badr Abdel Atty said on Thursday.
Twenty-one Coptic Egyptians were abducted in the Libyan city of Sirte on two separate occasions, only one week apart. Seven were kidnapped on December 31, 2014, while the remaining 14 were captured on January 3.
Pictures allegedly belonging to the abductees went viral on social media websites after they were published by a magazine affiliated with the Islamic State fighters. Those featured in the pictures were clad in orange, a colour usually signalling the captives’ death sentence by the group.
Late on Thursday, Egypt commenced emergency procedures to evacuate all Egyptian nationals wishing to return from Libya, reported state television.
Islamic State fighters have gained control of large areas of Iraq and Syria over the past summer.
Several Egyptians had been caught up in the militant fighting gripping Libya, which has recently intensified in measures unprecedented since the overthrow of late Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Many Egyptians have been killed, while others found themselves the victims of kidnapping.
Unidentified assailants killed a Coptic Egyptian doctor and his wife in Sirte and kidnapped their daughter on December 23. The body of abducted teenage daughter was later found.
The foreign ministry constantly reiterates its warning to all Egyptians residing in Libya, calling on them to avoid any conflict areas. It also keeps renewing its travel alert to the neighbouring country, urging those travelling to Libya to secure a visa from the Libyan embassy prior to their travel.
Comments (24)
I have no words to describe this ! Im libyan and this is not humane , these people are destroying libya!
Christians need to be evacuated from Muslim countries and given priority in immigration and asylum policies in the West. They are hated, persecuted in ways big and small, and their life is a living hell, but the Western media doesn’t care.
I appreciate your concern, but we shouldn’t have to go ANYWHERE OUTSIDE OUR HOME COUNTRY!!! We have been in these lands hundreds of years before Islam even started. I love my Muslim brothers and sisters, but these terrorists are something else, they are subhuman savage barbarian scumbags.
May God have mercy on these hostages.
thank you
We would hate for you to leave your home country too.. we have been living together in peace for years, anything that threatens the well being of Christians doesn’t just threaten Christians, but Muslims as well.
Most Egyptian people are living in hell . it is not about religion. it is about injustice and oppression . and thank you Egypt Canada Usa. because of your wonderful reply .i am proud of you .
Hate to break it to you, but muslims are the only ones being given high immigration priority in the west.
Egypt is going through a rough time right now and even though our government is doing everything it can to secure our safety, our country is still not that stable. It is not a matter of religion, for us blood is blood. We don’t have anything to do with those terrorists who claim that they’re fighting in the name of god and Islam. Us, Christians and Muslims, have been living together as one for years, now is not the time to part.