Cairo, Dec.6 (Aswat Masriya) - The Zagazig Criminal Court sentenced Egyptian militant Adel Habara to death on Sunday, for the "intentional and premeditated" murder of a police informant in Sharqeya governorate north of Cairo.

Prosecutors referred Habara's case to court in 2012 and it was referred to the grand mufti early in November, a procedural step before issuing death sentences in the Egyptian legal system. The court scheduled Dec. 6 to issue the sentence, after the mufti provides his opinion.

Last month, an Egyptian court gave Habara his first death sentence for the killing of 25 soldiers in Rafah in August 2013. Six others were also handed death sentences, three were sentenced to life in prison, 22 people were sentenced to 15 years of high security prison and three were acquitted.

A ruling had previously been issued on the Rafah killings case, in which Habara was sentenced to death. However, the verdict was nullified when Egypt's Supreme Court, the Court of Cassation ordered a retrial in June 2015, after the defence team filed for appeal. 

In September, a court upheld the death sentence against Habara on charges of starting a terrorist group, contacting Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria and engaging in violent acts targeting the police and army. 

Habara was sentenced to death several times before, including once in absentia for complicity in two bombings in Sinai in 2004 and 2006, which killed 42 people. 

Militant attacks targeting Egyptian security forces have surged since mid-2013 and the Rafah attack took place as this insurgency began to intensify.