Al-Azhar raps ISIL killing of 30 Christians in Libya
Egypt's top Muslim authority, al-Azhar has condemned the executions of some 30 Ethiopian Christians kidnapped by the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group in Libya.
Al-Azhar made the remarks in a statement posted on its Facebook page on Monday, a day after ISIL released a video purportedly showing the killings.
The 20-minute footage purportedly shows the beheading of a group of around 12 Ethiopian Christian men on a beach and the shooting of another group of at least 16 others in a desert area.
Egypt's Muslim body denounced the "heinous terrorist crime committed by terrorist group Daesh," using the Arabic acronym for ISIL.
The actions of "Daesh and other similar organizations do not comply by any means with any religion, human laws and customs," al-Azhar added.
This is while the office of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also condemned the executions, calling for an international effort to end the crisis in neighboring Libya.
It also said steps must be taken to "restore the Libyan state and its security and stability, as well as halting money and arms flows to terrorist and extremist groups present in Libya."
Egypt carried out airstrikes against ISIL targets inside Libya in February after the militants beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians. The victims had reportedly been abducted in Libya's northern coastal city of Sirte in two attacks in December and January.
The terrorist group, which controls some regions in Iraq and Syria, has recently launched operations in Libya.
ISIL video releases
ISIL has so far released several similar videos from Iraq, showing the executions of its captives from different countries including the United States, Britain, and Japan.
On April 15, Adel Khamis al-Mahlawi, an Iraqi lawmaker, announced during a press conference that the terrorists had beheaded about 300 people, thought to have been mostly from nomadic tribes in the western province of Anbar.
In a previous video released in February, a Jordanian pilot, captured by ISIL militants when his plane came down in northern Syria during a mission against the terrorist group, was seen being burned to death inside a cage.
The footage raised Jordanian authorities’ anger and ultimately led to a step-up in Amman’s airstrikes against ISIL positions in the region.
CAH/GHN/HMV
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