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ISIL abducts three African Christians in Libya’s Sirte

The image, released by ISIL on February 18, 2015, shows purported members of the Takfiri militant group parading on a street in Sirte, Libya. (© AFP)

The Takfiri ISIL militants have reportedly kidnapped three foreign nationals in eastern Libya as the extremists continue to expand their terror activities in the North African state.

The kidnappings reportedly occurred in Noufliyah, the ISIL stronghold southeast of the coastal city of Sirte.

In a statement on social media, the terrorist group said the abductees are Christians from Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana.

Passport pictures of the three foreigners in ISIL captivity have also been posted online.

Sirte, the hometown of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks since the 2011 revolution that toppled him. Gaddafi’s ouster brought about a patchwork of heavily-armed militias and deep political divisions.

Exploiting the power vacuum in Libya, the ISIL, which is mainly operating in Iraq and Syria, has spread its acts of terror to the violence-wracked country.

The ISIL terrorist group have so far beheaded dozens of foreigners and attacked a number of foreign missions in the capital, Tripoli.

On February 15, ISIL released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya. The Egyptians had reportedly been abducted in Sirte in two attacks in December and January last year.

The screen grab taken from a video made available by ISIL terrorists on February 15, 2015 allegedly shows a number of Egyptian Christians moments before their killing.

 

The terrorist group, which launched a parade on the streets of Sirte in February, has also raided oil fields in an attempt to spread out its territory to the east of the Libyan seaport.

Libya is beset with a profound political crisis as it currently has two rival governments, one based in the capital Tripoli and the other in the eastern city of Tobruk.

Over the past few months, there has been occasional fighting between ISIL and the Libya Dawn faction, which has been tasked by the government in Tripoli for the security of Sirte.


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