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Egyptian Air Force failed to take the necessary precautions in carrying out an attack which killed seven civilians in the Libyan city of Derna on 16 February, Amnesty International said Monday.

Libyan authorities said 42 people were killed, including civilians, after Egypt carried out air strikes against Islamic State targets, a day after the militant group released a video showing the beheading of a group of Egyptian Christians.

According to eyewitnesses cited by Amnesty International, two missiles were fired into a heavily populated residential area called Sheiha al-Gharbiya, close to the city’s university.

Attacks which do not discriminate between civilians and fighters are war crimes - Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui

One missile struck a four-storey house belonging to the al-Kharshoufi family, killing a mother and her three children aged between three and eight, and injuring their father and another child. A second missile hit a street in between civilian houses, causing three other deaths.

The report comes after Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said targets had been selected carefully and "with precision" to avoid civilian casualties.

"Civilians in Libya are in mortal danger as retaliatory attacks by all sides," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director at Amnesty International.

"Attacks which do not discriminate between civilians and fighters are war crimes. When perpetrated as part of a systematic and widespread attack against a civilian population, murder is a crime against humanity."

Sahraoui stated that the killing of civilians must be "investigated" adding that Egypt must "publicly disclose detailed information on all air strikes carried out, including targets and measures taken to avoid incidental harm to civilians".

However, Egypt has rejected the report, accusing Amnesty of "selectivity" and "double-standards."

Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdel-Atti reiterated Sisi's comment in a statement on Tuesday, saying that the targets were "carefully chosen". 

The minister added that the airstrikes targeted training camps and weapon caches of the extremist group, and reports of civilian deaths "are mistaken and not true."