Al Aour , Egypt ( CNN ) Mina Aziz had no real education but he did have a strong back . With marriage on his mind and empty pockets , the 24-year-old left his Egyptian village for Libya . Aziz was one of many Egyptians who go to Libya looking for work , but his journey ended in horror . He was one of 21 Egyptian Christians killed at the hands of ISIS ' Libyan branch . The Islamic militants released a gruesome video Sunday showing the beheadings of at least a dozen of the men on a beach . Thirteen of the dead were from Aziz 's village , Al Aour , roughly 200 kilometers ( 125 miles ) south of Cairo . One mother in the village , Om Beshir , lost two of her sons in the ISIS slaughter . Before their abduction , they had talked about their planned return home to celebrate Christmas . `` They said , Ma , cook all the holiday food , '' she tells me . `` But the bastards kidnapped them . Like they deprived me of my sons , I hope God deprives them . '' The Egyptian military responded to the horrific killings by bombing ISIS targets in Libya on Monday . The 21 Egyptian Christians were seized in the Libyan city of Sirte in two separate incidents in December and January . Hana Aziz says he was almost taken , too . Masked men came for his cousins and nephew in the adjacent room . Hana Aziz says he witnessed the scene unfold through a crack in the wall , hearing the militants announce they had orders from `` the emir '' to arrest all Christians in Sirte . He managed to escape into the desert with 15 others . Now back home in the dusty streets of Al Aour , he is avoiding his family . `` I feel guilty , '' he says . `` First of all , the situation was difficult , more than you can imagine . How can your nephew be taken from your hand ? How can you face your brother or your uncle ? What would you tell them ? '' Despite the grisly video of the men 's deaths , Hana Aziz takes solace in one aspect of what it shows . `` To the last moment , the name of Jesus was on their lips , '' he says . `` As they were being martyred , they were calling God 's name , saying , 'God , have mercy on us . ' The entire village is proud . '' Hana Aziz says he wo n't return to Libya , but some of his neighbors probably will . Like other villages in the region , Al Aour is impoverished and work is scarce . Libya offers young men like Mina Aziz a chance to earn money . At his home , his boyish face stares out of a photo clutched by grieving relatives . In the picture , his jeans and dressy black shirt belie the type of labor he did . `` He was a worker , he used to carry sand and rocks , what else could he do ? '' says Mina Aziz 's mother , Afaf . `` He did n't have a trade . He would have taken any job offered to him . '' CNN 's Ian Lee reported and wrote from Al Aour , and Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong .
Thirteen of the Thirteen Christians Christians killed by CNN in Egypt were from Al Aour . `` They deprived me of my sons , I hope God deprives them , '' Thirteen mother says . A man who narrowly avoided capture by the militants says he now feels guilty .