Incompetent Western leaders continue defending Islam from criticism while Christians are kidnapped and slaughtered in the name of Allah. This is madness.
Fox News—The ISIS terror group kidnapped 88 Eritrean Christians from a people-smugglers' caravan in Libya last week, a U.S. defense official confirmed Monday.
The defense official confirmed initial reports of the mass kidnapping to Fox News after seeing a recent intelligence report. The independent Libya Herald newspaper reported that the convoy was ambushed by militants south of Tripoli before dawn this past Wednesday morning.
Meron Estafanos, the co-founder of the Stockholm-based International Commission on Eritrean Refugees, told the paper that the group of migrants included "about 12 Eritrean Muslims and some Egyptians. They put them in another truck and they put 12 Eritrean women Christians in a smaller pick-up".
Estafanos said that the militants had initially stopped the truck and demanded that the Muslims on board make themselves known. Everyone who responded was asked about the Koran and their religious observance in an attempt to catch Christians pretending to be Muslims.
The main body of the group was put back on the original truck. As the militants drove the vehicle away, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported that at least nine men attempted to escape by diving off the back of the truck. Estefanos said three of those who had escaped were safe, but still trying to get out of Libya. The fate of the others was not known.
Libya has become a jumping-off point for thousands of migrants from the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa who attempt the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to southern Europe. However, Libya's ongoing instability has led to an increased presence by ISIS and other terror groups, increasing the risk for Christians and other non-Muslims attempting the crossing. (Continue Reading.)
The Islamic State beheaded 21 Coptic Christians in Libya. Egypt has responded by beginning airstrikes.
CNN—Egyptian warplanes staged a second wave of airstrikes against ISIS targets in Libya on Monday in retaliation for the slaughter of 21 Egyptian Christians by ISIS militants, Egypt's state-run Ahram Online reported, citing security officials.
The airstrikes followed an earlier wave that struck ISIS camps, training areas and weapons depots, the military said in a statement.
"Avenging Egyptian blood and punishing criminals and murderers is our right and duty," the Egyptian military said in the statement, which was broadcast on state television.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said the airstrikes targeted ISIS locations in Derna.
"Leaving the situation as it is in Libya without a firm intervention to curtail these terrorist organizations would be a threat to international peace and security," the ministry said.
It wasn't immediately clear how much damage and casualties the airstrikes might have caused.
The bombing raids came after ISIS released a gruesome video Sunday that appeared to show ISIS militants beheading men they said were Christians on a beach. (Continue Reading.)
How is it possible that so many Muslims, from so many different countries, are all misreading the Muslim sources in exactly the same way?
Tripoli, Libya (Associated Press) — A Libyan affiliate of the extremist Islamic State group claimed responsibility Wednesday for an attack on a Tripoli luxury hotel that killed 10 people, including an American and four Europeans.
The group, calling itself "Islamic State in Tripoli Province," said it launched the attack Tuesday to avenge the death of Abu Anas al-Libi, who was snatched off a Tripoli street by U.S. special forces in 2013 and died in U.S. custody earlier this month due to complications from liver surgery. Al-Libi had been indicted in U.S. federal court over his alleged role in the 1998 al-Qaida bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
The group identified the attackers as Abu Ibrahim al-Tunsi and Abu Suleiman al-Sudani, noms de guerre that suggest the attackers were Tunisian and Sudanese. The claim of responsibility was dated Tuesday but first appeared on jihadi forums Wednesday.
"The operation is not the last one on the lands of Tripoli... Let the enemies of God, the crusaders and their allies await what would harm them," the message read. (Continue Reading.)
Things have gotten so bad for non-Muslims in post-Arab Spring Libya, the Philippines has called for the evacuation of all Filipinos from the country.
Libya—A Filipino nurse has been kidnapped and gang-raped in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
The woman was seized outside her residence on Wednesday and taken to an unknown location, where she was sexually abused by up to six men, the Philippines' Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose told reporters.
She was released about two hours later and taken to hospital for treatment.
The incident took place only a few days after a Filipino construction worker was beheaded, amid allegations he was killed for not being a Muslim.
Following the latest incident, the Filipino government called for the evacuation of its 13,000 citizens in Libya, which has been rocked by violence in the last few months. (Continue Reading.)
Remember when the revolutions associated with the so-called "Arab Spring" made a positive impact on the world? Neither do I.
Libya—Suspected militiamen have beheaded a Philippine worker in Libya after singling him out because he was not a Muslim, the Philippine Foreign Department said.
Department spokesman Charles Jose said this reinforced the government's order to all Filipinos to evacuate the country because of the worsening security situation.
He told reporters the Filipino construction worker was kidnapped on July 15 and his beheaded remains were found in a hospital on July 20.
"The vehicle he was riding in was stopped in a checkpoint. There were three of them-- a Libyan, a Pakistani and a Filipino -- and he was allegedly singled out because he was non-Muslim," said Jose.
The kidnappers had initially negotiated with the Filipino's company for a $160,000 ransom but eventually "they received a call from the abductors on July 20 (that) referred them to a Benghazi hospital", he added.
The beheaded body was found in the hospital in an advanced state of decomposition, indicating he may have been dead even while the negotiations were going on, Jose added.
He indicated that the killing prompted the Philippines on Sunday to order its estimated 13,000 nationals in Libya to leave. (Continue Reading.)
The Obama Administration backed Libyan rebels against a largely secular (though admittedly evil) dictator. And now the Libyan government will be controlled by something far worse than Qaddafi.
Sound familiar? It's exactly what's happening in Syria.
FoxNews—Libya's recent edict that its coming constitution will be based on Shariah law has sent a chill through the North African nation's small Christian community.
Libya's Coptic Christians, who number about 300,000, or 5 percent of the population, were allowed to practice their faith under dictator Muammar Qaddafi. But since the strongman was ousted from power, and ultimately killed, Muslim fundamentalists have increasingly filled the power void. Last month, the national assembly voted in favor of making Koranic law, or Shariah, the basis of all legislative decisions, meaning Islam will shape all future banking, criminal and financial cases.
“Islamic law is the source of legislation in Libya,” stated the General National Congress in a statement released shortly after the vote was held. “All state institutions need to comply with this.”
A special committee has begun reviewing existing laws to ensure that they comply with Shariah, according to a recent report.
The emerging political and legal system's orientation, combined with the rise of militants in the oil-rich nation, has left Christians feeling like the promise of democracy in the wake of Qaddafi's fall has been broken.
“NATO went to war in Libya on the basis of a full democracy,” Patrick Sookhdeo, international director for human rights group The Barnabus Fund, told FoxNews.com. “But what we have ended up with is a fractured government in which religious extremism of the worst kind has now taken over the government.”
“The concern is that this conflict has produced the exact opposite of a democratic government,” he added. (Continue Reading.)
The West is still suffering from a terrible delusion. Our leaders really seem to think that if they help Islamists rise to power, the Islamists will be terribly grateful, and will treat us as friends and allies. This delusion caused our leaders to help Muslim rebels overthrow Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Now that Islamists are in power, they are desecrating British graves and smashing crosses, while shouting "Allahu Akbar." Perhaps our leaders will eventually learn that Islamists have no concept of gratitude.
LIBYA--A year ago they begged for Britain’s help when Colonel Gaddafi’s tanks encircled their city, threatening annihilation.
Now former Libyan rebels in Benghazi – liberated with the aid of the RAF last March – have systematically desecrated the graves of more than 150 British servicemen killed in North Africa 70 years ago.
Headstones at the Benghazi War Cemetery have been torn down and crucifixes smashed with hammers by a mob of extremists, some carrying guns and dressed in combat fatigues.
More than 1,000 soldiers and airmen who lost their lives in the desert wars of Montgomery and Rommel are buried at the site in Eastern Libya.
Many were members of the famed 7th Armoured Division, known as the Desert Rats, who played a crucial role in the see-saw battle for control of Libya and Egypt between 1941 and 1943.
Graves of RAF pilots were among those shattered by the thugs. It was their job to fly bombing raids – just as the RAF did last year – to assist Lieutenant General Montgomery’s Eighth Army and support commandos clearing routes for tanks.
Sickeningly, the attack, which was carried out over two days last week and appeared highly organised, was filmed by one of the men involved and posted on the internet.
As they rampage among the graves, members of the mob are heard to repeatedly say of the dead servicemen: ‘They are dogs, they are dogs.’
The violence was thought to be retaliation, in part, for the burning of the Koran by US soldiers in Afghanistan last month.
Footage shows the mob methodically kicking down grave after grave. Some are then smashed with hammers. ‘Destroy that cross, they are dogs,’ cries one hooded rebel.
Another voice is heard saying: ‘We begin with this one then we’ll take care of that other one. We won’t leave any left.’
A few seconds later another extremist says: ‘This tomb has a cross on it – a disbeliever.’
As they discover a Jewish grave bearing the Star of David, one of the men says: ‘Look at what it says on it. There is even Israeli writing . . . in Hebrew.’
And in one of the most disturbing sequences, one protester attaches a ladder to the Cross of Remembrance next to the cemetery. He climbs up it and begins hacking at the memorial with a hammer. Then he shouts: ‘Watch out young people. It’s going to fall.’ The cross is then smashed off. (Read more.)
