World | Libya Egypt Hits ISIS Targets After Mass Beheadings Airstrikes were to 'avenge the bloodshed,' Cairo says By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Feb 16, 2015 1:49 AM CST Copied In this Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 photo, Coptic Christian men whose relatives were abducted by ISIS militants protest at the Coptic cathedral in Cairo, Egypt. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) Egypt says it has launched airstrikes against ISIS targets in Libya after the extremist group released a grisly video showing the beheadings of several Coptic Christians it had held hostage for weeks. A spokesman for the Armed Forces General Command announced the strikes on state radio today, marking the first time Cairo has publicly acknowledged taking military action in neighboring Libya, where extremist groups seen as a threat to both countries have taken root in recent years. The statement said the warplanes targeted weapons caches and training camps before returning safely. It said the strikes were "to avenge the bloodshed and to seek retribution from the killers." "Let those far and near know that Egyptians have a shield that protects them," it said. The militants had been holding 21 Egyptian Coptic Christian laborers rounded up from the Libyan city of Sirte in December and January. It was not clear from the video whether all 21 hostages were killed. Libya's air force, meanwhile, announced it had launched strikes in the eastern city of Darna, which was taken over by an ISIS affiliate last year. Read These Next Sienna proves herself to be a very, very good dog. Three hikers jumped into a waterfall and never resurfaced. Her blood isn't compatible with anyone else's. America has lost a '60s teen idol. Report an error