For the second time this year, several Christians were found shot and killed in execution-style. Local residents and security officials confirmed that the victims were Egyptian believers who were abducted from their homes. Reuters reported that the bodies were found with gunshots to the heads in Benghazi, a town where abductions and assassinations have been frequently taking place.
Police, however were unable to identify the culprits. A local Egyptian worker, who concealed his identity, testified that an unknown man with a gun had arrived in Benghazi, where the victims lived and dragged them away from their apartment, asking if they were Egyptian or Christian. Security officials soon confirmed that the victims were in fact believers.
A representative from the Egyptian foreign ministry said that the kidnappers had originally captured 8 people but one was able to escape. Though the ministry did not publish the religion of the deceased, but they did reveal the seven names which appeared to be Christian. However, no organization or group claimed responsibility for the murders.
One possible suspect is the Ansar al-Sharia, an active Islamic group in the east of Libya. They are listed as a terrorist organization by Washington D.C. and they are responsible for a number of similar instances including last month when a British man and a woman from New Zealand were kidnapped and killed in a similar style to the Egyptian Christians.
