CAIRO, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian military court sentenced on Monday four defendants to death and 17 others to life in prison over terror charges, state-run Ahram Online news website reported.
The prosecutor-general's office charged the defendants with joining a terrorist group, conspiracy, the use of weapons and bombs that resulted in the death of 20 police personnel and an employee at the authority of roads and bridges, as well as destroying public property.
The case is known in the media as the "Giza Province" case.
The court also handed down a 15-year sentence to two defendants, six years to ten, and five years to five defendants in the same case, while 17 defendants were acquitted in the same case, according to Ahram Online.
Monday's verdicts can be appealed in a military court of appeals.
The court also ruled that nine defendants are to pay compensation for damage caused to roads and bridges.
The case involved the trial of members of a terrorist organization formed in Egypt's Giza governorate with links to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.
Egypt's security apparatus has said that this group attempted to form a terrorist cell in Egypt's Giza governorate to be known as the "IS State in Giza."
Officials have also said that this group targeted the Egyptian foreign ministry building and attacked the authority of roads and bridges in February 2016, which resulted in the death of an employee and the injury of several others.
The terrorist organization was reportedly formed in August 2014.
Terrorism rose in Egypt following the military ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.
Terror attacks gradually expanded from North Sinai province bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip to other provinces including the capital Cairo and started to target the Coptic minority via church bombings and shootings. Enditem
