Bodies of 21 Coptic Christians beheaded by ISIS to return to Egypt

Three years after 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians were kidnapped and executed by ISIS militants in the city of Sirt in Libya, the Libyan attorney general, Siddiq Soor, agreed to return the bodies upon the request of Egypt’s public prosecutor.

According to local media sources, the head of the Interrogations Office said that Libyan authorities received the request from Egypt’s public prosecutor through the Libyan foreign ministry.

He added that the bodies were presented to forensics and DNA samples were taken.

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A committee from the foreign affairs and attorney general’s office met with the Egyptian public prosecutor and handed him the forensic samples that were taken from the bodies in order for them to be identified with the victims’ families.

He confirmed that the bodies will be returned to Egypt, and that there are serious efforts in making sure that happens.

The killings, documented in a grisly video released online by the extremists in 2015, shocked Egypt and led it to launch punitive airstrikes.