An Egyptian court handed on Tuesday dead sentences to 14 Islamist militants for involvement in a 2011 attack that killed seven people at a bank and a police station in the Sinai Peninsula, scene of mounting violence near the border with Israel.

The court in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya convicted the 14 of carrying out the attacks in June and July last year on behalf of the hardline group Tawhid wal Jihad (Monotheism and Holy War).



One civilian was among the dead.

The court ruling came as Egyptian security forces continue to hunt militants in Sinai following an August 5 attack on an army outpost which killed 16 soldiers.

The army has strengthened its presence in Sinai, sending helicopters and tanks in pursuit of Islamist extremists believed to be behind the August 5 attack.

On Sunday, Egyptian security forces killed six gunmen in a raid on a north Sinai village, witnesses said.

Security officials said they found chemicals used to make explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and machineguns with the militants in El-Jurah village. One of the gunmen was seriously wounded, they said.

In the wake of the attack on the army outpost, President Mohamed Morsi dismissed his powerful defence minister, replaced his spy chief and sacked top security and political officials in the Sinai.

He also scrapped a constitutional document that gave the military legislative and other powers.



http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/08/14/232260.html