Egypt’s foreign ministry follows case of seven Egyptians detained in Libya

Monday 20-06-2016 10:10 PM

The building of Egypt's Foreign Ministry. ASWATMASRIYA/ Ahmed Hamed

CAIRO, Jun 20 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt’s foreign ministry said on Monday it is following the case of seven Egyptian nationals detained in the city of Misrata in Libya.

Foreign minister's assistant for consular affairs said in a statement that the ministry is contacting authorities in Libya to determine the place of their detention and discuss ways to release them.

The detained Egyptians were on their way back to Egypt when they were stopped in Misrata.

Egyptians residing in Libya have been caught up in the country’s internal conflict which has proliferated over the past few years.

Egypt has repeatedly warned against travel to Libyan territories and called for Egyptians living in Libya to exercise extreme caution.

Last April, 13 Egyptian illegal immigrants were killed in the Libyan city of Bani Walid. They were killed amid clashes with members of smuggling gangs in Libya.

Egypt received 20 Egyptian nationals who were held captive by Libyan militia groups earlier this year.

In Feb. 2015, Islamic State fighters in Libya abducted and beheaded 20 Egyptian nationals in the city of Sirte, releasing a video of the beheading afterwards.

In response, Egypt launched airstrikes in Libya in the same week of the video's release. The Egyptian military said in a statement the strikes targeted training sites and weapons and ammunition storage sites belonging to ISIS fighters in the country.

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