Egypt announced on Sunday that members of ISIS terrorist cells in Sinai had spied on the country with drones, adding that they had received military training inside the country and abroad.
The judiciary referred 43 ISIS suspects, held in the Sinai State case, to criminal trial on charges of carrying out violent acts in the Cairo, Giza, northern Sinai, Dakahlia, Qalyubia, Faiyum and Kafr al-Sheikh districts.
Hamada al-Sayyed, a former football player in the Aswan club, is among the suspects.
The defendants are charged with forming seven splinter ISIS cells in 2015 and up until February. They plotted to carry out terrorist crimes, attack security forces and police and change the system of rule in Egypt by force by obstructing the constitution and laws. They also planned to attack public institutions and Christians and their places of worship.
Three of the suspects funded the cells and others obtained weapons, ammunition and material to build explosives.
One of the defendants also acquired a drone equipped with a camera.
Investigations revealed that the suspects had received military, security and technical training in ISIS camps in northern Sinai.
Some members of the cell had joined terror groups in Syria where they also received military training.
Security forces and the police have since February 9 been carrying out a major campaign to crackdown on terrorists in northern and central Sinai.
