February 2015 Egyptian airstrikes in Libya

Egypt has created a "national council" to combat the rise of Islamist "terrorism" which has targeted its security forces and Coptic Christian minority, in a presidential decree issued on Wednesday.

The decree, published in Egypt's official gazette, sets up a "national council to combat terrorism and extremism" by adopting a "global national strategy."

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadist group on May 27 claimed responsibility for an attack on a bus in central Egypt that killed dozens of Christians, its propaganda arm said.

Gunmen attacked buses and a truck taking a group of Coptic Christians to a monastery in southern Egypt on May 26, killing 26 people and wounding 25 others, witnesses and the Health Ministry said following the latest attack targeting the community by suspected Islamists.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said the unidentified gunmen had arrived in three fourwheel- drive vehicles.

Egypt referred 48 people to the country's military judiciary on May 21 for suspected involvement in three deadly church bombings and accused them of joining the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on April 10 extended his condolences to Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, over two Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) church attacks in the country in a phone call, marking a rare diplomatic interaction between the two countries since relations soured after the ouster of Mohamad Morsi in 2013.

Global powers on Dec. 13 backed the formation of a national unity government in Libya, pledging economic and security support to help stabilise the chaotic North African country where Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants have a foothold.

US President Barack Obama raised the possibility Nov. 5 that a bomb brought down a Russian plane that crashed over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, undermining efforts by Cairo and Moscow to downplay the suggestion of an attack.

The Arab League said it had postponed indefinitely a ministerial meeting set for Aug. 27 to approve the creation of a joint military force to intervene against jihadists.

The governments of America, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain issued a joint statement on August 16 condemning "barbaric" acts carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant  (ISIL) in Libya.

Libya's internationally recognized government appealed to Arab countries to carry out airstrikes against the local Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) affiliate which is expanding its hold on the coastal city of Sirte.