The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has captured 20 Egyptian Christian men and a 14-year-old Christian girl, and the lives of the men are in great danger while the young girl might have already been forced to convert into Islam and marry a Jihadist militant.
According to Christian Freedom International (CFI), ISIS just posted the kidnapped men's pictures on their website. CFI refused to share the website but they confirmed that the men are currently suffering from torture and abuse.
"The Egyptian Christians were employed as low paying migrant workers in nearby Libya. It is almost impossible for minority Christians to find work in Egypt, as they are highly persecuted and marginalized; as a result Christians take great risks to find employment anywhere they can," CFI said.
CFI reported that Egyptian Christians working in Libya are "extremely vulnerable" since there is an increase in Muslim extremism in the area. The 20 men are held together in shackles in an undisclosed location but the young Christian girl's location is unknown.
A CFI source sadly believes that ISIS will eventually execute the Christian Egyptians unless there is "divine intervention" since posting the pictures of the men on their website is seen as the radical group's last step before a mass execution.
The first seven victims of ISIS were abducted last November 29 in Sirte, Libya. They are Samuel Wilson, Ezzat Boshra Nasseef, Luke Nagaty, Essam Badar Sameer, Malak Farag Ibrahim, Sameh Salah Farouk, and Gaber Munir Adly.
They made the next kidnap attempt on December 3 and captured Maged Shehata Solaiman, Abanoub Ayad Ateyya, Yousef Shukry Yunan, Hani Abdel Massih Saleeb, Kirrolos Boshra Fawzi, Milad Makeen Zaky, Makram Yousef Tawadros, Samuel Estafanous Kamel, Bishoy Estafanous Kamel, Mena Fayez Aziz, Malak Ibrahim Sinewt, Girgis Milad Sinewt, Bishoy Adel Khalaf.
The men are from the village of Awar belonging to Samalout Center in Minya Province in Upper Egypt.
Meanwhile, the young Christian Egyptian girl who was abducted might have been forced to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim militant.
"On Tuesday dawn, December 23, armed masked Islamic militants stormed a housing apartment of an Egyptian Christian family in Sirte, Libya, and shot dead Doctor Magdi Sobhi Tawfika and his wife Sahar Talat Rizk. The Muslim militants kidnapped the eldest daughter, Catherine Magdi Sobhi, who is just 14-years-old," the CFI co-worker said.
The militants left her two other siblings, 10-year-old Carla and 9-year-old Carol, with the bodies of their murdered parents and fled from the scene.
