Atrocities Continue against Christians in Egypt's Northern Sinai
ISIS jihadists continue targeting Christians in Egypt's volatile Northern Sinai region, resulting in brutal murders.
Two men who were abducted by the group have been found dead. Egyptian officials said one of the slain men had his eyes plucked out and was set on fire before being shot to death.
Christian families are fleeing the region in droves. At least 100 families left last Friday after ISIS released a video saying they "will kill every infidel" and that Christians are their "favorite" target.
Women are being threatened if they don't wear the Islamic body-covering and farmers are being forced to give money to the group under the guise they are paying a "zakat," a mandatory Islamic donation to charity.
ISIS has also set up checkpoints on roads near the Gaza Strip forcing travelers to recite from the Koran.
"The messages the militants are sending are terrifying," a prominent tribal leader told The Associated Press. "The numbers of militants is not that big ... But the army campaign stopped and the militants returned."
The group poses a direct threat to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's government. He called the violence against Christians "a cowardly act and evil plan to shake confidence in the state and undermine national unity."
El-Sissi said Monday that Egypt is determined to "eliminate the terrorist elements in North Sinai and eradicate terrorism."