On February 15, the ISIL published a video showing the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians, kidnapped earlier in Libya. In response, Egypt and Libya carried out a series of joint bombings on ISIL positions in Libya.
Cairo has since called on the hundreds of thousands of Egyptian citizens working in Libya to leave the country, and has even chartered airplanes to bring many of them home.
The Islamic State is a jihadist group that controls large areas of Syria and Iraq, but also operates affiliates in Eastern Libya, the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, and other areas of the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It has proclaimed a caliphate on the lands it has captured and published a number of videos showing foreign citizens being executed. A US-led coalition comprising more than 60 countries is conducting air strikes against the rebel group.
