Seven Egyptian Christians shot dead in Libya

Libyan police have found seven Egyptian Christians shot execution-style on a beach in the eastern part of the country, marking the second such killing since the beginning of the year.

The bodies were discovered on Monday with gunshots to the head in the volatile Garoutha region, just 30 kilometers from the city center of Benghazi, said Col. Ibrahim al-Sharaa, spokesperson of Benghazi’s Joint Security Operation Room.

The victims’ ages ranged between 17 and 25, he added.

Unidentified local residents said unknown gunmen dragged the Egyptians from their Benghazi home the night before, state news agency LANA reported.

Security sources confirmed the Egyptians were Christians.

No group has claimed responsibility for the gruesome killings in restive Jalluta, where assassinations, kidnappings and car bombs have been active recently.

In January, Libyan soldiers found the body of a British national and a woman from New Zealand on a beach in Mellitah in southwestern Tripoli. They said the two had been shot execution-style.

Meanwhile, in December, an American national was killed in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Insecurity continues in the country after Libyans, with the help of British forces backed by the US, ended the rule of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in August 2011.