An Egyptian military court sentenced on Wednesday terrorist leader Hisham Ashmawy to death over involvement in a number of terror attacks, Egypt's army spokesman said.

Ashmawy, one of the most wanted Egyptian militants, was apprehended in Libya in October 2018 and was handed over to Egypt by forces of Libyan army commander Khalifa Haftar in May.

He was convicted in 14 "crimes" including a prominent 2014 ambush that killed 22 Egyptian military border guards near the border with Libya and a failed assassination attempt on a former interior minister in 2013, the spokesman said in a statement.

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

A former Egyptian special forces officer, Ashmawy had been sentenced to death in absentia before his transfer to Egypt.

Ashmawy led the Sinai-based Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis, the army said. He broke off after the group swore allegiance to the Islamist State group in late 2014.

He sneaked into Libya to join the militant Ansar Al-Sharia group and later founded a new Al-Qaeda-aligned group called Al-Mourabitoun,  the army said.