Egyptian authorities have executed nine men convicted of the 2015 killing of the country’s chief prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, a prison source and a lawyer said on Wednesday.
The men were among a group of 28 who were sentenced to death in the case in 2017.
Egypt blamed the Muslim Brotherhood and Gaza-based Hamas militants for carrying out the car bombing which killed Barakat. Both groups denied having a role
Human rights group Amnesty International had appealed on Tuesday for authorities to halt the executions, citing testimony by the defendants that they had been secretly detained and tortured into confessing.
Since 2013, Egyptian criminal courts have issued hundreds of death sentences.
Only a small proportion has been carried out, though the rate of executions has risen since 2015, rights activists say.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi says he is working to bring stability and security to Egypt following the turmoil of the 2011 uprising.
