Egypt hands out 11 life sentences for joining Islamic State

CAIRO — An Egyptian court has sentenced 11 people to life in prison on charges of joining the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria and Iraq.

The Giza criminal court says the defendants all traveled abroad to fight for IS and receive military training.

Two other defendants get 15-year sentences, and another is given three years for the same charges. These include possessing weapons and plotting attacks against security forces and state institutions.

The verdicts can be appealed, and the court has dropped the charges against another defendant.

Egypt is battling its own Islamic State-led insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula. That fight intensified in 2013 after the military overthrew an elected but divisive Islamist president.

Militants in Egypt have carried out scores of attacks, mainly targeting security forces and minority Christians.

— AP

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