ISIS Releases Video Showing Beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians

A new video released by ISIS shows the militant group beheading 21 Egyptian Christians, who were kidnapped in Libya.

The beheaded Egyptians were dressed in orange jump suits and were  forced on the ground of a beach and then killed. A caption on the video locates the site of the video to "Wilayat Tarabulus by the Mediterranean Sea," suggesting that the entire episode had been shot near Tripoli, according to nbcnews.com.

Every victim is teamed up with a masked, knife-wielding terrorist and subjected to a brief statement by the ISIS leader, after which they are all beheaded.

Titled "A Message signed with blood to the nation of the cross" the video was released by the group's Al-Hayat Media Center, according to Flashpoint Intelligence, a global security firm and NBC News consultant.

"This undeniably means that the group now views Christian populations as not only targets but also part of the bigger 'Crusader plot,' not separate from the US-led coalition or aggressors," a Flashpoint report said. "The group's message is highly intimidating and it somewhat challenges the Western nations to intervene and save the Christians as it intervened to save the Yazidis and others."

The video was put up by the ISIS on the Twitter feed of a supporting website.

Thousands of Egyptians had gone to Libya to look for jobs since an uprising in Egypt in 2011, even though their government had warned them not to go to an increasingly lawless country, according to Reuters.

Just before the executions, a militant stood with a knife in his hand and said: "Safety for you crusaders is something you can only wish for."

Egypt's official state news agency said that the Coptic Church spokesman confirmed the beheadings. The National Defense Council was gathered by the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi in order to discuss the murders.

The President has called seven days of national mourning.