A shocking and sickening video has been released in which it appears that ISIS beheads and shoots 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya.
The Daily Mail reported that the 29-minute video, titled “Until It Came To Them – Clear Evidence,” showed dozens of militants holding two separate groups captive. One group was thought to be in the south and the other in the west of the country. Men were filmed being killed by gunshot in the desert or by beheading near the sea.
This latest video followed another one released two months ago showing the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians on the beach in Libya. However, it did not appear to be at the same beach as the current video, as the area was rockier.
The incidents have elicited fear that ISIS is creating a significant presence on the “doorstep of Europe.” Libya is only a few hundred miles from the coast of Italy.
Although Ethiopia has been unable thus far to confirm its citizens were killed in the video, it condemned the “atrocious act.”
However, Abba Kaletsidk Mulugeta, an official with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church’s Patriarchate Office, said he believed the victims were migrant workers. “I believe this is just another case of the IS group killing Christians in the name of Islam. Our fellow citizens have just been killed on a faith-based violence that is totally unacceptable. This is outrageous,” he said. “No religion orders the killing of other people, even people from another religion.”
According to The Daily Mail, the video showed the captured men on the coast wearing Guantanamo-style orange jumpsuits and being held by the neck by ISIS fighters in combats with balaclavas covering their faces. The victims inland were forced to kneel as militants dressed in combats and green masks stood behind them holding rifles. They were all told to covert or die.
In an apparent reference to Ethiopia’s attacks on neighboring Somalia, whose population is almost entirely Muslim, a black masked ISIS fighter says, “Muslim blood shed under the hands of your religions is not cheap. To the nation of the cross we are now back again.”
Ethiopia’s options to retaliate remain slim, given its distance from Libya. However, Ethiopian Ambassador to Egypt Mohammed Edrees said his country could partner with Cairo to strike the militants.
“That could be an option,” Edrees said. “We will see and explore what is possible to deal with group.”
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