Egypt's Crisis Across the Border with Libya

On Monday, Egyptian armed forces carried out a predawn airstrike in Libya in response to the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by the terrorist group known as ISIS. The Egyptians attacked camps, training facilities and weapons depots belonging to the group near the Libyan town of Derna. It is understandable that Egypt is concerned about the extremist threat considering hundreds of thousands of Egyptians live and work across the border in Libya, extremely vulnerable to the country’s and the widening violence. But the airstrikes marked a significant expansion of Egypt’s direct military involvement in Libya, however the call this week for the United Nations Security Council to mandate an international coalition to intervene in Libya and impose a naval blockade has gotten hardly any support so far.


The Editorial Board. "Egypt's Crisis Across the Border with Libya." New York Times. February 9 2015. 1. Print