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Egyptian court sentences 14 to death for Sinai attacks

Arab World Materials 14 August 2012 21:18 (UTC +04:00)
An Egyptian court Tuesday sentenced 14 Islamists to death after finding them guilty of attacks last year on a police station and bank in the Sinai Peninsula, state-run newspaper Al Ahram reported online.
Egyptian court sentences 14 to death for Sinai attacks

An Egyptian court Tuesday sentenced 14 Islamists to death after finding them guilty of attacks last year on a police station and bank in the Sinai Peninsula, state-run newspaper Al Ahram reported online.

The Criminal Court in the coastal city of Ismailia said the men killed five police officers in the town of Al Arish in North Sinai, the report said. One civilian was killed in an attack on a bank in the same town, DPA reported.

The attacks took place out last year amid a surge in violence and lawlessness in Sinai following president Hosny Mubarak's ouster in February 2011.

All but two of the defendants were present at the trial, Al Ahram reported, and have filed appeals. They are members of the Organization of Monotheism and Jihad (Holy War) insurgent group.

The verdicts come as the Egyptian Army is carrying out a major offensive against Islamists in Sinai, where gunmen killed 16 soldiers in an attack near the border with the Gaza Strip more than a week ago.

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