Eritrean and Egyptian Christians refugees seeking religious asylum were abducted en route to Libya by Islamic State (ISIS) militants, a religious extremist terrorist group on Wednesday, June 3. The kidnappings were confirmed by a United States defense official on Monday, June 8. The events follow a trail of Christian abductions which occurred in the months of February and April 2015.
It was reported by Meron Estefanos that men, women, and children were en route to Tripoli, the capital city of Libya in a caravan. They were assailed by a group of ISIS militants nearby Oum Walid. Estefanos revealed that the staggering number of victims taken were more than 85 captives, of which 12 were woman and 12 were Eritrean Muslims. The majority of the captives were refugees from the city of Adi Keih. Estefanos is a human rights activist and the co-founder of Stockholm-based International Commission on Eritrean Refugees.
"When IS first stopped the truck, the terrorists demanded that Muslims should make themselves known. All who responded were quizzed on the Quran and their religious observance. It appears that the terrorists discovered at least one Christian who was pretending to be a Muslim," reported The Libya Herald.
The recent abductions follow a chain of similar events that occurred in April 2015. ISIS militants released a 29-minute video of 28 Ethiopian Christians being executed for their faith in Libya. Prior to their deaths, the Christians were given choices to convert to Muslim, pay a special tax, or be killed. The recording was entitled, "Until It Came To Them - Clear Evidence." Some Christians were beheaded, while others were shot at point blank by militants who proclaimed loyalty to ISIS. The video began with scenes of churches, graves and icons being destroyed, signifying the "history of Christian-Muslim relations' in past years. In February 2015, 21 Coptic Egyptian Christians were executed in a similar manner.
"Muslim blood shed under the hands of your religions is not cheap. To the nation of the cross we are now back again," stated a speaker in the video recording.
ISIS practices Sharia, a religious set of laws taken from the Quran, a religious text and the Hadiths, a set of teachings from Muhammad. Nations such as Saudi Arabia, Suda, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Brunei, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Yemen, and Mauritania govern Sharia laws which allow beheading, flogging, and stoning as punishments for crimes.
