Egypt executes terrorist Hisham Ashmawi after conviction over terrorist attacks

Egyptian top militant Hisham Ashmawy was executed by hanging on Wednesday morning, after he was convicted of plotting several terror attacks, the military said in a statement.

Ashmawy turned militant was convicted in many terror attacks, including the 2013 assassination bid against then interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim.

Ashmawy has been involved in the assassination of top prosecutor Hisham Barakat and other attacks including Al-Wahat terror assault, which led to the death of 16 Egyptian security personnel.

He was also found guilty for attempting to assassinate former interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim, plotting to target ships crossing the Suez Canal, as well as helping a member of the Ansar Beit al-Maqdis terrorist group escape from a government hospital in Ismailia.

Ashmawy was captured in the eastern Libyan city of Derna in late 2018 and was handed over to Egypt by forces loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar in May last year. He’s been described as the country’s most dangerous terrorist.

“This morning, the death sentence by hanging was carried out on terrorist defendant Hisham Ali Ashmawy,” military spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said in an audio statement posted on Facebook.

The army said Ashmawy was convicted in 14 crimes including a prominent 2014 ambush that killed 22 Egyptian military border guards near the frontier with Libya and a failed assassination attempt on a former interior minister in 2013.

Other crimes listed include targeting ships in the Suez Canal and involvement in deadly assaults on security buildings and armoured vehicles.