Egypt has executed six members of a Sinai-based militant group with links to Islamic State for carrying out an attack on soldiers near Cairo in 2014, the state news agency reported on Sunday.

The group, Sinai Peninsula, has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in 2013.

The case marked the first trial of members of Sinai Peninsula, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, the group that has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria.

It was formerly known as Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis.

The men were convicted on charges which included carrying out an attack which killed two army officers. - Reuters