IS militants behead 30 Ethiopian Christians

Cairo, April 19 

A video purportedly made by Islamic State and posted on social media sites on Sunday appeared to show militants shooting and beheading about 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya.

Reuters was not able to verify the authenticity of the video but the killings resemble past violence carried out by Islamic State, which has expanded its reach from strongholds in Iraq and Syria to a conflict-ridden Libya.

The video, in which militants call Christians crusaders who are out to kill Muslims, showed about 15 men being beheaded on a beach and another group of the same size shot in their heads in scrubland.

Both groups of men are referred to in a subtitle as “worshippers of the cross belonging to the hostileEthiopian church”.

Libyan and Ethiopian officials were not immediately available for comment.

The video concludes with a warning that Christians will not be safe unless they embrace Islam or pay protection money.

Islamic State controls large parts of Iraq and Syria and wants to redraw the map of the Middle East.

It is not clear how many fighters it has in oil-producer Libya. — Reuters