Seven Egyptian Christians have been found dead on a beach near the Libyan eastern city of Benghazi.
The Copts, who were found tied up and with gunshot wounds to the head, were identified as Talaat Sidik Bassiouni, Hani Garas Habib, Nadi Garas Habib, Fawzi Fathi Sidik, Edward Nashed, Ayoub Sabri Tawfik and Osama el-Romani, reports MCN.
A local resident and an Egyptian worker, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters that unknown gunmen had arrived at the Egyptians’ Benghazi home and dragged them away the night before.
“They were killed by headshots in execution style,” a police officer told Reuters.
MEC reported that the gunmen went door-to-door, searching for residents who were Christian.
No group has claimed responsibility. Benghazi has seen the rise of several extremist militia groups operating in the city since the civil war in 2011 that toppled the longstanding leader, Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Residents blame these groups for the almost daily assassinations and frequent bombings targeting the army and police.
Before Christmas, an American chemistry teacher, Ronnie Smith, was shot dead while he was jogging in a popular residential area of the city. And in January, a British man and a New Zealand woman were shot, execution-style, on another beach 100km (60 miles) to the west of the capital, Tripoli.