A video released by the Islamic State (ISIS) on Sunday appears to show the killing of two different groups of captured Ethiopian Christians by the extremist group’s Libyan affiliates.
The 29-minute online video titled ‘Until There Came to Them Clear Evidence’ purports to show militants holding two groups of captives consisting of 15 members each. It says one group is held by an ISIS affiliate in eastern Libya known as Barka Province, and the other by an affiliate in the south calling itself the Fazzan Province.
The video then switches between footage of the captives in the south being shot dead, and the captives in the east being beheaded on a beach.
The video also features scenes of Isis fighters destroying churches, crosses and paintings depicting the Virgin Mary, before moving on to show the massacre of the Ethiopian Christians, indicating the price of religious minorities defying the militant group’s edicts.
Many Ethiopian Christians are part of the Coptic church, and travel to North Africa seeking employment or as a transit route to Europe.
The video bore the official logo of ISIS’ media arm Al-Furqan, and resembled previous videos released by the extremist group, including one in February in which militants in Libya beheaded 21 captured Egyptian Christians on a beach.
ISIS has been gaining a foothold amid the chaos in Libya, where two governments backed by rival alliances of militias are battling each other, as well as extremist groups.
More than 90,000 people have fled ISIS’ advance in Anbar, a United Nations humanitarian agency said Sunday.
(With Inputs from Associated Press)