A priest and a witness say masked armed men in central Libya have kidnapped 13 Coptic Christians, originally from Egypt.

Hanna Aziz, a witness, told the Associated Press news agency that the men in the Libyan city of Sirte went room by room in their residence at 1am yesterday and asked for identification papers to separate Muslim workers from Christians.

Aziz says the attackers handcuffed and drove away with the Christians. Abu Makar, a Coptic priest in the workers’ hometown of Samalout in southern Egypt, confirmed the abduction took place.

He said seven other Coptic Christians from Samalout were kidnapped trying to escape from Sirte a few days earlier.

Sirte has become a safe haven for religious armed groups like Ansar al-Shariah, blamed for the 2013 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.