ISIL abducts 20 medical workers in Libya’s Sirte

The ISIL Takfiri militants have kidnapped as many as 20 medical workers in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte.

The Takfiri group kidnapped the medical staff of the Ibn Sina Hospital on Monday, according to a hospital official.

The medical workers, who are not Libyan, were kidnapped by a group of 30 militants and were taken to the Libyan capital city of Tripoli.

According to the hospital official, the abductees are from the Philippines, Ukraine, India and Serbia.

The official further noted that they kidnapped medical workers who were trying to leave the city because of security concerns in the city.

The Takfiri group captured the university in the Libyan coastal city on February 19. According to a professor at the university, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the militants suspended the classes and postponed the exams following the seizure.

Early in the month, the alleged ISIL militants seized a state-run radio station in Sirte.

On February 15, the Takfiri ISIL group released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya. The Egyptians, whose photos were published in the latest online edition of the ISIL magazine, Dabiq, had reportedly been abducted in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte in two attacks in December and January last year.

Also in January, alleged ISIL gunmen stormed Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, killing nine people, including a Frenchman and a US security consultant.

In January, Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni warned that Libya may turn into a safe haven for the Takfiri ISIL terrorists, who currently control swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, thus posing a significant challenge to the security and stability of the world.