21 Christians have been kidnapped and are being held hostage by militants who identified themselves as being part of the Islamic State on Monday.
The militants, who said they are part of the “Tripolitania Province” of the Islamic State, released the announcement via SITE Intelligence Group, which has previously released the Islamic State’s videos and statements.
The announcement came with photographs of the hostages and a caption which read, “Urgent—Soldiers of the Islamic State captured 21 Christian Crusaders in various areas of Tripoli Province.”
Though the nationalities of the hostages were not mentioned in the statement, reports say that these hostages are likely to be Egyptian workers in Libya who were reported missing in recent weeks. Seven were reported missing in late December, and Christians reported 13 Egyptians were missing on Jan. 3.
Some were identified by their families, including that of Bishoy and Samuel Estefanos.
“All we can do is pray to God for help,” said Bisheer Estefanos, the brother of Bishoy and Samuel. “Their mother is tired of crying,” he told the Telegraph.
Estefanos added that his brothers were in Libya searching for work, and those who were reported and confirmed missing by the Egyptian government in earlier reports were also identified as migrant workers near Tripoli in Libya, an area which is currently under the control of the Islamic State.
The Islamic State has been gaining more territories beyond Iraq and Syria, specifically in Libya in areas including Tripoli, Derna and Fezzan, areas which have recently seen deaths caused by the extremist militants, the New York Times reports.
As of yet, there are no reports of what the Egyptian government plans to do in response to the hostage situation, nor did the Islamic State’s statement of the hostages come with any specific demands from the Egyptian government.
