Egyptian court jailed 65 suspected ISIS terrorists

An Egyptian court on Thursday sentenced 65 suspected Daesh group militants to between five years and life in prison for setting up a “terrorist cell”, a court official said.

The alleged cell had members in various parts of impoverished upper Egypt and was led by an “emir” Mostafa Ahmed Abdelaal.

The militants, charged in 2017, had “set up a terrorist cell in Upper Egypt which declared allegiance to (Daesh leader) Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi”, the court official said.

The court sentenced 18 of the defendants to life terms (25 years) and another 41 to 15-year prison terms.

It also handed six minors five years each in jail and acquitted two suspects. The sentences can be appealed.

The Egyptian branch of Daesh has led an insurgency in North Sinai and carried out attacks across the country.

Egypt’s army launched a major offensive in February dubbed “Sinai 2018” to dislodge the insurgents from the peninsula.

Source: Gulf Today