Egypt has bombed ISIS targets in Libya in revenge for the beheading of 21 Christian hostages by the militant group.State TV said the strikes earlier this morning had targeted camps, training sites and weapons storage areas.
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said his country had the "right to respond" against IS, the BBC reports.
It comes after a sickening video that appears to show brutal Islamic State thugs cutting the heads off Christian men was released by the terror group.
The gruesome five-minute long video, released last night and called 'A Message Signed With Blood To The Nation Of The Cross', shows a line of men in orange jumpsuits being walked along a beach front with a masked jihadi grabbing their arm.
Taken in Libya, the video shows the men being forced to kneel in front of the terrorists while one of the militants, also with his face covered, speaks to the camera in a North American-accented English.
He says: "All crusaders: safety for you will be only wishes, especially if you are fighting us all together. Therefore we will fight you all together.
"The sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama Bin Laden's body in, we swear to Allah we will mix it with your blood."
The men are then laid face-down and simultaneously beheaded.
The militant speaker then pointed northward and said: "We will conquer Rome, by Allah's permission."
The vile video is the latest in a line of horrific short films showing the murder of people by ISIS thugs.
British nationals David Haines and Alan Henning and America journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were all beheaded in videos filmed in Syria.
Militants in Libya had been holding 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians hostage for weeks, threatening them with death.
The makers of the video identify themselves as the Tripoli Province of the Islamic State group - the Islamic militant group that controls about a third of Syria and Iraq.
The Egyptian government declared a seven-day mourning period and President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi convened an emergency national security meeting to discuss a response.
He sent condolences to "the victims of terrorism," according to a statement released by the presidency.
Qalini Sanyout, whose two nephews were among the hostages, said: "What can we say? Can someone tell us if this is true." he said repeatedly. "The whole village is in mourning."
The Coptic Church said it was confident the Cairo government would seek justice. Al Azhar, the centre of Islamic learning in Egypt, said no religion would accept such "barbaric" acts.
The families of the kidnapped workers had urged Cairo to help secure their release. In the southerly Minya Governorate, relatives screamed and fainted upon hearing news of the deaths.
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