The Islamic State militants have reportedly abducted at least 35 Egyptian nationals, in response to Egypt's bombing of ISIS targets.
Local media reports claim that the 35 Egyptians kidnapped by the ISIS-Libya affiliate Ansar al Sharia are mainly farm workers.
The Libya Herald reported that fresh kidnappings took place after Egyptian jets bombed ISIS targets in their Libyan base of Derna in response to the ISIS video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians.
The beheading of the Egyptian Christians and the quick retaliatory response is expected to further destabilise the power struggle in the country. Libya, where two governments are trying to wrest control from each other -- one in Tripoli, the country's capital and another in Tobruk near Libya's border with Egypt -- has gotten further embroiled in an unending power struggle.
Between all this, the militia groups such as Ansar al Sharia with ties to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State have flourished unattended.
The Egyptian warplanes reportedly bombed ISIS training bases south of the city and the home of Bashar al Drissi, one of the Islamic State's leaders in Libya.
Prior to the beheading of the 21 Coptic Christians, ISIS in a statement has claimed that it had kidnapped the Coptic crusaders to avenge the 2010 killing of two Muslim women, who had converted to Islam from Christianity.
