CAIRO, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian court sentenced on Sunday 13 members of a disbanded militant group to death over charges of involvement in terrorist attacks on security forces, official MENA news agency reported.
Giza Criminal Court referred the files of 13 members of Ajnad Misr, known as "Soldiers of Egypt," to the country's highest religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for his non-binding Islamic legal opinion on their execution.
The case originally includes 42 defendants accused of installing explosive devices, targeting various venues including checkpoints, police stations, vital institutions and public properties as well as murdering policemen and citizens.
The court will issue the final verdict on Dec. 7.
Egypt has been fighting against a wave of terror activities that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the military toppled Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his currently blacklisted Brotherhood group.
Terror attacks in Egypt used to focus on police and military men in North Sinai before spreading nationwide and targeting the Coptic minority as well, with most of them claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.
Ajnad Misr pledged allegiance to the IS in 2014, a year before its founder was killed as announced by the Egyptian police in April 2015.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian military and police have killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects as part of the country's anti-terror war declared by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi's removal.
