• 00:39
  • Wednesday ,15 August 2012
العربية

Egyptian Court Sentences 14 Militants to Death for Deadly 2006 Attacks on Police in Sinai

by The Edmonton Journal

Copts and Poliltical Islam

00:08

Wednesday ,15 August 2012

Egyptian Court Sentences 14 Militants to Death for Deadly 2006 Attacks on Police in Sinai

An Egyptian court has sentenced 14 members of a militant Islamic group to death for attacks six years ago in the Sinai Peninsula.

The court found that the men were members of an Islamic militant group called el-Tawhid wi el-Jihad that carried out attacks against policemen and soldiers in Sinai.

Sixteen people were killed, among them Egyptian civilians, in the 2006 attacks in northern Sinai's el-Arish city.

In total, 25 men are involved in the case. The other 11 will be sentenced Sept. 24.

As is customary in Egypt, the country's top religious cleric must approve the executions.

Militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula are believed to have grown in numbers since last year's political upheaval. Unidentified militants killed 16 Egyptian soldiers near the Egypt-Gaza-Israel border in Sinai this month.