Egyptian military court sentences 8 to death over killing policemen

CAIRO, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian military court sought on Sunday the opinion of the top Islamic religious authority on sentencing eight terror suspects to death for killing two policemen in 2015.

The court will issue its final verdict on Jan. 17 after getting the opinion of Grand Mufti, the country's highest Islamic official, who will give the religious judgment of all preliminary death sentences, the official daily Ahram reported.

The defendants are accused of assassinating a police officer and a conscript in April 2015.

Egypt has been suffering from a wave of anti-security attacks since the army-led ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Terror attacks used to be centered in North Sinai before spreading nationwide and targeting the Coptic minority as well, with most of them claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State militant group.

The Egyptian military and police have also killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects as part of the country's anti-terror war. Enditem