An Egyptian military court on Thursday sentenced 17 people to death for their involvement in suicide bombings at three churches and a police checkpoint in 2016 and 2017, Reuters quoted state new agency MENA as saying. More than 80 people were killed in the attacks, whose responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.
The court sentenced 19 others to life in prison and 10 people were given jail terms ranging between 10 and 15 years, AFP reported. The sentences can be appealed.
The blasts, which occurred in Cairo, Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta, targeted the churches of Coptic Christians, who account for 10% of the nation’s population. Sunni Muslims are the major religious group in Egypt.
The bombings in Alexandria and Tanta – in which 45 people were killed – occurred on Palm Sunday in April 2017. The attack came four months after a chapel adjoining Cairo’s main St Mark’s cathedral was targeted, killing 28 people. The cathedral is the seat of Coptic Pope Tawadros II.
The Egyptian government declared a three-month state of emergency after the attacks in Tanta and Alexandria. The following month, the Islamic State group killed 29 Copts travelling to a monastery.
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