IS Releases Video Depicting `Killing` of Ethiopian Christians

Islamic State (IS) released a new video, which purportedly shows the killing of up to thirty Ethiopian Christians in Libya.

The video depicts one group of men being beheaded on a beach and another group being shot in the head in a desert, the BBC reports.

The victims are believed to be members of the Ethiopian Church, who had been captured by IS militants in Libya.

The video is similar to earlier ones released by IS, including the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians in February.

The latest recording has a length of 29 minutes and bears the official logo of the media branch of IS, but its authenticity has not been independently confirmed.

Ethiopian Information Minister Redwan Hussein, who condemned the killings, said that the government was attempting to identify the nationalities of the men depicted in the video.

The USA similarly expressed its condemnation of the "brutal mass murder", which once again demonstrated the need for political resolution of the conflict in Libya.

The video depicts a masked militant threatening to kill the Christians unless they convert to Islam or pay special tax.

It is believed that the latest killings occurred in the south and east of Libya, which has been affected by civil war and surge in violence since last summer.