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A court in Egypt has sentenced 14 members of a militant Islamist group to death for carrying out attacks on a police station in North Sinai last year, a court official said. According to News 24, the attack killed an army officer, five policemen and a civilian, the court said. They were all accused of being members of Al-Tawhid Wal Jihad, one of the banned groups being targeted in a security crackdown on militants in the desert peninsula. The ruling might add to the tension in the volatile region bordering Israel , where fighting between security forces and militants has intensified since 5 August when 16 border guards were killed in an attack blamed on Islamist groups. The same court, in the city of Ismailia, on the west bank of the Suez Canal, will rule on 24 September on another 11 defendants, who are also accused of being part of the group that was blamed for bombing tourist resorts in Sinai in 2004 and 2005. The group kept a low profile after its founders were killed by police following those bombings, but had resurgence after a popular uprising overthrew President Hosni Mubarak 18 months ago.

14 Islamist militants sentenced to death in Egypt for 2011 Sinai attack