BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) – Two Serbian embassy staffers who had been held hostage in Libya since November are believed to have been killed in Friday’s U.S. airstrikes on an Islamic State camp in western Libya, Serbia’s foreign minister said Saturday.
Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic identified the two as Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver. They were snatched in November after their diplomatic convoy, including the ambassador, came under fire near the coastal Libyan city of Sabratha.
Speaking at a news conference in Belgrade, Dacic said information about the deaths was given to Serbia by foreign officials but had not yet been confirmed by the Libyan government.
“We got the information, including photos, which clearly show that this is most probably true,” Dacic said.
American F-15E fighter-bombers struck an Islamic State training camp in rural Libya near the Tunisian border Friday, killing dozens, probably including an IS operative considered responsible for deadly attacks in Tunisia last year, U.S. and local officials have said.