Pope Francis smiles as he waves to residents during a motorcade in Tacloban city, after holding a mass near the airport, January 17, 2015. An emotional Francis, wearing a plastic poncho over his vestments to protect him from the wind and rain on Saturday,
Pope Francis smiles as he waves to residents during a motorcade in Tacloban city, after holding a mass near the airport, January 17, 2015. An emotional Francis, wearing a plastic poncho over his vestments to protect him from the wind and rain on Saturday, comforted survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, the Philippines' worst natural disaster that killed about 6,300 people 14 months ago. REUTERS/Erik De Castro (PHILIPPINES - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY POLITICS)

Pope Francis condemned the Islamic State of Egyptian Copts in Libya for killing 21 Christians in Libya. He said on Monday that the only reason behind their death was their religious faith.

Francis was speaking to an audience with a Scottish ecumenical delegation. He said that the victims called out for Jesus while getting assassinated. “The blood of our Christian brothers is testimony that cries out,” Francis said, “Be they Catholic, Orthodox, Copts, Lutherans, it doesn’t matter: They’re Christian!”

The Libyan sister group of the Middle Eastern terrorist organisation released a video late on Sunday that apparently showed a mass beheading of Coptic Christians. They were held hostage for several weeks. The video showed one of the terrorists shouting that they had plans to “conquer Rome.” Pope Francis’ reaction comes after the claim.

The Pope also said that it was “lawful” to stop an unjust aggressor. He called the IS victims as “martyrs” who belonged to all Christians. Egypt has a predominant Muslim population. Only around 10 percent of the entire population belongs to people with Christian faith. The Independent reports that the Coptic Church was founded on the teachings of St. Mark who took Christianity to Egypt during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero.

The Egyptian military also reacted to the mass killing by launching airstrikes against IS militants in Libya on Monday. According to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian warplanes hit 10 targets in Derna that IS used for storage and training. The Egyptian military said in a televised statement that it was Egypt’s duty to avenge Egyptian blood and punish criminals and murderers.

Shoukry told CNN that the Egyptian military had conducted “surgical strikes based on very accurate intelligence and related to degrading the capabilities of ISIS within the city of Derna.” However, an extremist group in Derna claimed that the city "woke up to a disaster" as it accused Egyptian military jets of targeting civilians in residential areas in the city. The group also claimed that children and women had been killed by the military attacks. It warned that the Egyptian government should expect a "harsh and painful" response to the attacks.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@IBTimes.com.au