Court upholds death sentence

the hardline group Al-Tawhid wal Jihad (Monotheism and Holy War).
They attacked members of the police and of the armed forces, leaving seven dead, including one civilian.
The country’s top cleric had approved the death sentences, as is customary.
Six men will be hanged.
The eight others were being tried in absentia.
Egyptian security forces launched a campaign to crush increasingly brazen Islamist militants in the restive Sinai after an attack on an army outpost killed 16 soldiers on August 5.
Government had always struggled with militancy and smuggling in                  the region but lost its grip after an uprising overthrew president Hosni Mubarak early last year, prompting the collapse of his discredited police force and allowing militants to flourish. — AFP.