Egypt’s chief prosecutor on Monday referred 555 individuals suspected of joining a local affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) [JURIST backgrounder] group to military court.

The charges against them arise out of a series of attacks [AP report] carried out by dozens of small militant groups situated in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula. The suspects will faces charges for the planned and executed killings of security personnel, attacks on military checkpoints and the destruction of a gas pipeline between Egypt and Jordan carried out over a series of 63 attacks.

Currently only 216 of the 555 suspects are in custody. Included in the list of defendants [Egypt Today report] is Egyptian national fugitive and former chairman of Building and Development Party, Tarek el Zomor. El Zomor, a former member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, is charged with inciting violence and number of terror-related incidents dating as far back as 2013.

Also on Monday, the Giza Criminal Court sentenced nine individuals [AA report] to life in prison for crimes associated with the Daesh terrorist group. Two others associated with the case were given sentences of five years imprisonment and three others were acquitted for lack of evidence.

Egypt’s long-fought battle with terrorism [JURIST backgrounder] grew deadlier after Egypt’s first freely-elected leader, President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi violently ousted Mohammed Morsi.