CAIRO — Egyptian warplanes struck targets of the self-proclaimed Islamic State group in Libya on Monday in swift retribution for the extremists' beheading of a group of Egyptian Christian hostages on a beach, shown in a grisly online video released hours earlier. An armed forces spokesman announced the strikes on state radio, marking the first time Cairo has publicly acknowledged taking military action in neighboring Libya. The statement said the warplanes targeted weapons caches and training camps before returning safely. It said the “intense strikes” were “to avenge the bloodshed and to seek retribution from the killers.” “Let those far and near know that Egyptians have a shield to protect and safeguard the security of the country and a sword that amputates terrorism and extremism,” it said. The central Egyptian village of El-Aour, home to 13 of the 21 Christians kidnapped in Libya in December and January, saw an outpouring of grief and anger. In narrow, dusty alleys family members sought to console one another and women wiped tears away with their traditional head coverings. Inside the village's only church, relatives and other mourners wept and cried out the names of the men who had been killed. “What will be a relief to me is to take a hold of his murderer, tear him apart, eat up his flesh and liver,” said Bushra Fawzi as he wept over the loss of his 22-year-old son Shenouda, who had traveled to the coastal Libyan city of Sirte nearly six months ago in search for work as a carpenter. “I want his body back. If they dumped it in the sea, I want it back. If they set fire to it, I want its dust.” — Agencies
