CAIRO, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian prosecution referred on Sunday 278 defendants from two militants groups to military court over committing terrorist attacks instructed by the currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.
Prosecutor-General Nabil Sadeq referred the 278 defendants from Hasm and Liwaa al-Thawra militant groups, including 141 who are already in custody, to be tried before a military court over committing 12 terrorist attacks targeting policemen as well as vital state institutions nationwide.
The investigations of the State Security Prosecution said the defendants belonged to the Brotherhood group that provided them with finance, explosives, weapons, ammunition and logistic support to carry out their anti-state terrorist activities.
Fugitive Brotherhood leading members inside and outside the country, mainly in Turkey, have set a plan to restructure the group's armed wing to carry out terrorist operations against security, judicial, economic and other institutions in Egypt, according to the investigations.
Last week, the prosecutor-general similarly referred 555 defendants to military court over belonging to the so-called "Wilayat Sinai," a Sinai-based group affiliated with the regional Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.
Morsi was removed by the military in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his 12-month rule. His Brotherhood group was outlawed by a court order less than three months later.
Since then, Egypt has been facing a wave of terrorist attacks that have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers as well as civilians, with the Sinai-based, IS-affiliated militant group claiming responsibility for most of them.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian forces have killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands of suspects during the country's anti-terror war declared by newly re-elected President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi's ouster.
