Isis in Libya: 86 Eritrean refugees kidnapped by Islamic State outside Tripoli

Isis execution of Ethiopian Christians — Islamic State militants lead what are said to be Eritrean and Ethiopian Christians along a beach in Wilayat Barqa, in this still image from an undated video made available on a social media website Reuters

The Islamic State (Isis) has kidnapped 86 Eritrean refugees in Libya, according to a Swedish-Eritrean activist.

Meron Estefanos, human rights activist and co-founder of the International Commission on Eritrean Refugees in Stockholm, told IBTimes UK that the Eritrean refugees, including 12 women and children, were abducted two days ago (3 June) as they were travelling to Tripoli.

Most of the kidnapped come from one city in Eritrea, Adi Keih, which is known for its opposition to the regime.

"IS militants asked everyone who is Muslim or not and everybody started saying they are Muslims. But you have to know the Koran, and they didn't," Estefanos said, citing eyewitnesses who managed to escape.

In April, IBTimes UK interviewed a 16-year-old Eritrean migrant who escaped captivity under IS. Nael Goitom said jihadists forced him to watch the beheading and shooting of Eritrean and Ethiopian Christians, which was shown in a three-minute video featuring extensive rants against Christianity and the West.

The final part of the clip shows a group of men dressed in black who are said to be hostages in southern Libya held by a group of IS fighters clutching machine guns.

The teenager was kidnapped on 3 March after he crossed Libya from Sudan along with other 61 Eritrean men, 10 Eritrean women and eight Ethiopians. About 20 or 30 armed IS members stopped the Tripoli-bound caravan of migrants in the middle of the southern Libyan desert and started asking religious questions.