An image grab taken from a video released by the jihadist media arm Al-Hayat Media Centre on February 15, 2015 purportedly shows black-clad Islamic State (IS) group fighters leading handcuffed hostages, said to be Egyptian Coptic Christians, wearing orange jumpsuits before their alleged decapitation on a seashore in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Islamic State released a video Sunday that purports to show militants beheading Egyptian Christian hostages kidnapped in Libya, reports say.
The video shows 21 people dressed in orange jumpsuits forced onto their knees and beheaded, Reuters reported from Cairo.
The video was posted on social media. On Twitter, several accounts distributed links to the video carrying the title, "A Message Signed With Blood To The Nation Of The Cross."
Men in orange jumpsuits are shown being led along a beach, each accompanied by a masked militant, Associated Press reported. The men are made to kneel and one militant, dressed differently that the others, addresses the camera in English.
"All crusaders: safety for you will be only wishes, especially if you are fighting us all together. Therefore we will fight you all together," he said. "The sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama Bin Laden's body in, we swear to Allah we will mix it with your blood."
The men are then laid face-down and simultaneously beheaded. The militant speaker then pointed northward and said, "We will conquer Rome, by Allah's permission."
Militants in Libya had been holding 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians hostage for weeks, threatening them with death. The makers of the video identify themselves as the Tripoli Province of the Islamic State group — the Islamic militant group that controls about a third of Syria and Iraq.
The Egyptian government declared a seven-day mourning period and President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi convened an emergency national security meeting to discuss a response. El-Sissi sent condolences to "the victims of terrorism," according to a statement released by the presidency.
Qalini Sanyout, whose two nephews were among the hostages, answered the phone Sunday night amid the sound of wailing in the background.
"What can we say? Can someone tell us if this is true." he said repeatedly, AP reported. "The whole village is in mourning. Men are covering their heads with dust and mud."
Thousands of Egyptians have traveled to neighboring Libya in search of jobs since an uprising at home in 2011, despite dangerous conditions.
The Associated Press said it could not immediately independently verify the video.
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