An Egyptian Christian moments before his beheading on a beach in Libya, 2015
An Egyptian Christian moments before his beheading on a beach in Libya, 2015

Libya has officially confirmed it has found the bodies of the 20 Coptic Christians beheaded by the Islamic State group in February 2015, reports Agenzia Fides.

The 20 Egyptians and one Ghanaian were found close to where they were executed on a beach in the coastal city of Sirte, according to the Egyptian public prosecutor’s office. The men still had their hands tied behind their backs and were still wearing the orange jumpsuits they wore when they were executed.

The location of the bodies was revealed by the captured IS fighter who videotaped the executions. The Libyan public prosecutor’s office described the militant as “one of the most dangerous” fighters in the Libyan IS group. The man also told the Libyan authorities that the other militants involved in the executions came from Chad, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.

Relatives of the dead Copts had complained about the lack of evidence after the Libyan public prosecutor’s office took more than a week to confirm the location of the bodies. The Egyptians waiting to receive their dead include the families of 13 murdered Christians from the village of al-Our in Minya, Upper Egypt, where a church is being built in their honour.