On 12 February 2015, Islamic State terrorists beheaded 21 captive Christians on a beach in Libya. Days later the jihadist group published a video of the brutal murders as part of a campaign of terror.
In 2015, 21 Christian men were beheaded on the beaches of Libya for their faith in Jesus Christ.
Why were the Christians killed?
The roots of Islamic State (IS – also known as ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) go back several years before this horrific incident. By 2014 IS controlled huge swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria – its much-vaunted caliphate – but had also spread into several other countries.
By 2015 IS had asserted control over a territory on the Libyan coast, around the city of Sirte. Here they applied sharia (Islamic law), collected taxes, and governed in much the same way as in the caliphate itself.
IS government included purging their caliphate of un-Islamic influence, including Christianity. This meant expelling, subjugating, or – in some cases – killing Christians.
Who were the Christian martyrs?
The 21 Christians were all construction workers who had come to Sirte for work.
Twenty were Egyptian – 13 of them from the same village, al-Our in Minya Province. One – Matthew Ayariga – came from Ghana.
The men were abducted in two separate IS raids in December 2014 and January 2015, as the Islamists were asserting their control over the region.
How did they die?
The men were dressed in orange jumpsuits – a copy of a prison uniform – and were led onto the beach. An IS spokesman announced that they would be beheaded, having refused to renounce Christ and convert to Islam.
In the moments before they died, many of the men cried out Ya Rabb Yesua! – “O Lord Jesus!”
According to some reports, Matthew Ayariga was the 21st victim. He was asked if, unlike the others, he would renounce Christ. He responded, “Their God is my God” – and he too was killed.
What happened after the killings?
IS forces were ousted from Sirte in December 2016. Less than three years later, they had lost their entire Middle Eastern caliphate. However, IS remains a threat – analysts believe that there are still several hundred IS fighters in Libya.
After the territory was retaken, the remains of the 20 Egyptian martyrs were repatriated. They were laid to rest after a service at the newly built Church of the Martyrs in the village of al-Our. The body of Matthew remained unclaimed, until he was laid to rest alongside the other martyrs in 2020.
Today each one of these men is remembered as a faithful servant of the Lord, who have joined the multitude of those gathered before His throne from “every nation, tribe, people and language” (Revelation 7:9).
