http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-beheading-of-coptic-christians-on-libyan-beach-brings-islamists-to-the-doorstep-of-europe-10049769.htmlMonday 16 February 2015
Lizzie Dearden
The beheading of 21 Coptic Christians on a beach in Libya has brought Isis to the doorstep of Europe.
The mass murder, which provoked a volley of Egyptian air strikes on the group’s Libyan stronghold of Derna, realised long-held fears of militants reaching the Mediterranean coast.
Isis started in Iraq and now controls swathes of adjoining Syria, including along the Turkish border, as part of its so-called Islamic State.
Its ideology has spread much further, with pledges of allegiance from terrorist groups in Egypt, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Yemen and now Libya.
Days before Isis released its gory video depicting the Egyptians’ beheadings, Libya’s former Prime Minister warned that the group would soon reach the Mediterranean and even Europe if order was not restored in the country.
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