Egyptian jets bombed Islamic State (IS) targets in Libya on Monday, a day after the group there released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians, drawing Cairo directly into the conflict across its border.
Egypt said the dawn strike hit militant camps, training sites and weapons storage areas in neighbouring Libya, where civil conflict has plunged the country into near anarchy and created havens for armed factions.
40-50 militants killed
While Cairo is believed to have provided clandestine support to a Libyan general fighting a rogue government in Tripoli, the mass killings pushed President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi into open action, expanding his battle against Islamist militancy.
Libya’s air force also participated in Monday's attack on Derna — an eastern coastal city seen as a base for Islamic State fighters in the oil-rich nation.
“There are casualties among individuals, ammunition and the [Islamic State] communication centres,” Libyan air force commander Saqer al-Joroushi told Egyptian state television, adding that between 40 to 50 militants were killed.
It was not possible to confirm those numbers.
“More air strikes will be carried out today and tomorrow in coordination with Egypt,” said Mr. Joroushi, who is loyal to Libya’s internationally recognised government, which has set up camp in the eastern city of Tobruk after losing control of Tripoli.
The rival Tripoli-based Parliament, which is supported by some Islamist groups, condemned Monday’s strike as an assault on the country's sovereignty.
Cairo also called on the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to broaden the scope of their operations to include Libya, highlighting how the militant group is expanding its reach around the Arab world.
Lawless Libya
Since the fall of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi in 2011, a number of Islamist movements have taken hold. Recently, some have declared ties to Islamic State and claimed high-profile attacks in what appears to be intensifying campaign.
Last month, Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, killing nine people, including an American security contractor and a Frenchman.
Egypt is not the only Arab nation sucked into confrontation with Islamic State by the gruesome killings of its citizens. Jordan has taken a leading role in conducting air strikes against the group in Syria and Iraq this month after the militants released a video showing a captured Jordanian pilot being burned alive in a cage.
The 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians, who had gone to Libya in search of work, were marched to a beach, forced to kneel and then beheaded on video, which was broadcast via a website that supports Islamic State.
Before the killings, one of the militants stood with a knife in his hand and said: “Safety for you crusaders is something you can only wish for.” Afterwards, he says: “And we will conquer Rome, by the will of Allah.”
The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, condemned the killings. “They were killed simply for the fact that they were Christians,” he said at the Vatican. “It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants. They are Christians!”
Egypt’s Coptic Christian Pope was one of the public figures who backed Sisi when he, as army chief, ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsy in 2013 after mass protests against him.
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous nation, has not taken part directly in the U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State strongholds in Iraq and Syria, focusing instead on the increasingly complex insurgency at home.
