The bodies of 34 Ethiopian Christians killed by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2015 have been found in a mass grave located on farmland near the coastal city of Sirte, in Libya, which ISIS gained control of in 2015 before United Nations-backed forces regained control in 2016.

The grave was discovered during investigations of the terrorist group’s captured members, and the bodies of the Christians have been exhumed and will be repatriated to Ethiopia.

According to Reuters, an ISIS propaganda video posted to social media in April 2015 showed militants shooting and beheading Ethiopian Christians, who were in two groups, on the beach and in the scrubland. 

This incident happened two months after ISIS members executed 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt; a mass grave containing their bodies was found in 2017.

Due to Islamic oppression, Libya is fourth on the 2019 Open Doors World Watch List, which tracks the 50 worst countries where Christians face extreme persecution.