Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, president of Egypt, called for international intervention against the Islamic State. File photo by Monika Graff/UPI. | License Photo

CAIRO, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi called for international intervention against Islamic State sites in Libya after the terror group beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians there.

Egypt launched a second wave of airstrikes against IS -- which is also known by the acronyms ISIS and ISIL -- on Monday in reaction to the beheading. The terror group released a video Sunday purporting to depict the killings of the men who were kidnapped in the IS-controlled city of Sirte, Libya.


The first wave of airstrikes targeted IS training camps and weapons storage sites. The second wave followed suit.

"Avenging Egyptian blood and punishing criminals and murderers is our right and duty," the Egyptian military said in statement.

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Meanwhile, al Sisi called for the international community to intervene against IS, calling what happened in Libya a threat to world peace and security.

He spoke by phone to French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi about their respective countries' involvement. He also sent Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri to speak with U.N. officials in New York.

"Leaving the situation as it is in Libya without a firm intervention to curtail these terrorist organizations would be a threat to international peace and security," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.

Egyptian Ambassador to Britain, Nasser Kamel, told the BBC IS is a particular threat to Italy, and thus, Europe as a whole.

"[There are] boat people who go for immigration purposes and try to cross the Mediterranean," he said. "In the next few weeks if we do not act together, there will be boats full of terrorists also."