Egyptian authorities on Tuesday executed 15 prisoners convicted of attacks on security forces in the restive Sinai Peninsula, police officials said.

The men were hanged in two jails where they had been held since military courts sentenced them for the attacks in the Sinai, where terrorists are waging an insurgency, the officials said.

It was the largest mass execution carried out in the North African country since six convicted terrorists were hanged in 2015.

The hangings come a week after the ISIL terrorist group attacked a helicopter with an anti-tank missile at a North Sinai airport as the country’s defense and interior ministers were visiting.

The ministers were unhurt in the attack but an aide to the defense minister was killed along with a pilot.

ISIL’s Egypt affiliate has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in attacks in the Sinai and also targeted civilians in the mainland.

Source: AFP