MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) – A Libyan plane carrying the bodies of 20 Egyptian Christians killed in 2015 by Islamic State in its former Libyan stronghold of Sirte left the western city of Misrata for Egypt on Monday afternoon, a Libyan official said.

Libyan Red Crescent workers carry coffins, containing the remains of the bodies of Egyptian Copts killed by Islamic State in Sirte, which are to be transferred to Egypt after the forensic tests were completed and the bodies identified, at a morgue in Misrata, Libya May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny

The bodies were recovered in October after a captured commander from the jihadist group gave away the area where they had been buried, officials said at the time. Libya agreed to return them to Egypt after Islamic State was pushed out of the city late last year. The Coptic Christians were beheaded on a beach in February 2015 wearing orange jumpsuits, according to a video posted by the militant group.

The body of a Ghanaian national who was killed with them was not on board the plane bound for Egypt, the official said. Islamic State took control of Sirte in 2015 and lost the city late last year to local forces backed by U.S. air strikes.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Catherine Evans)