An Egyptian court on Thursday sentenced a defendant to 15 years in imprison over charges of forming an Islamic State (IS) cell, official news agency MENA reported.

In a retrial of the case, publicly known as "Daesh (IS) Upper Egypt Organization,” the defendant, whose identity was not revealed, was accused of forming an IS-affiliated terrorist cell operating in six Upper Egyptian governorates.

In the first trial, 18 of the 67 defendants in the case were sentenced to life in prison, 41 were sentenced to 15 years in jail, while six others were imprisoned for five years. Only two defendants were acquitted.

The charges included illegally possessing weapons and ammunition, manufacturing explosives, disrupting public order, vandalizing state institutions, assaulting Christians and undermining the country's social peace and national unity.

Terror attacks have been continuing in Egypt since the military ousted former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to the mass protests against his 12-month reign and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Hundreds of policemen and soldiers have been killed in terror attacks in the past years. Such attacks used to mainly take place in the restive North Sinai province before gradually spreading to other provinces.

Most of the attacks were claimed by the Sinai State group which is based in North Sinai province.