WEB DESK

Egypt executed 15 militants today over their involvement in the killing of nine members of the security forces in a 2013 attack in the country’s northeast, a government official said.

The official said 11 convicts were hanged near Alexandria, while four others were executed west of Cairo.

All of the prisoners were convicted of killing eight soldiers and an officer during the attack on a military checkpoint in the city of al-Arish, capital of the north Sinai region.

A military court had sentenced the 15 men to death in June 2015.

Egyptian security forces are currently engaged in an operation against the Islamic State terror organisation’s affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula.