Egypt executes 15 militants over 2013 Sinai attack

CAIRO: Egypt on Tuesday executed 15 militants charged with killing 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 at the Burj al-Arab prison -- located 55 km southwest of Alexandria -- while four others were executed at the Wadi al-Natrun prison, some 120 km to the west of Cairo, Efe news reported.

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 and an appeals court upheld the ruling on November 13 this year, according to the local media.

In June 2014, the International Federation for Human Rights condemned what it said was an "alarming increase" in the use of capital punishment in Egypt and urged authorities to abolish the death penalty.

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