20,000 Egyptians flee Libya after beheadings, airstrikes

February 25, 2015 03:20 pm | Updated 03:20 pm IST - CAIRO

An Egyptian border official says some 20,000 Egyptians have fled Libya since the release of a grisly beheading video by Islamic State militants.

The video, showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians, prompted Cairo to launch retaliatory airstrikes and ban Egyptians from travelling to the increasingly volatile North African country.

Fawzi Nayel, security chief at the Salloum crossing, told The Associated Press an average of 2,000 to 3,000 Egyptians have crossed daily from Libya in the 10 days since the video was released. Many have come from Sirte, the central city where the 21 Coptic Christians were abducted.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.