IS into Libya

Militants of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS or ISIL) killed 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya on Feb. 16, the first time IS had performed such an act outside of its area of control in Iraq and Syria. The victims all had been captured by Islamist militias in the eastern Libyan town of Sirte between December and January.

In response to the killings, Egyptian air strikes hit IS camps in and around the Libyan city of Derna.

On Feb. 20, an IS bombing in the Libyan city of al-Qubbah killed at least 30 people and wounded dozens more. 

IS previously had no known presence in Libya.

In the Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi on Feb. 17, IS killed 45 prisoners, at least some of whom were Iraqi soldiers. 

In late January, IS killed two Japanese journalists who had been captured in Syria in October 2014, the first casualties from Japan.

In February, there was an increase in strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria by anti-IS coalition forces, including Jordan, which bombed IS locations after a captured Jordanian pilot was killed by IS on Feb. 3. At press time, a large Iraqi and Kurdish battalion was preparing to take back the IS-held city of Mosul in Iraq.