CAIRO: An Egyptian appeals court has granted a retrial for a top militant and 15 others accused of killing 25 Egyptian police officers in 2013.

Saturday's ruling overturns previous convictions ranging from a death sentence to 15 years in prison.

The attack in 2013 saw militants ambush two minibuses carrying off-duty police officers near the border town of Rafah, days after security forces killed hundreds of people in a crackdown on supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi at protest camps in Cairo.

Officials say militants lined up the officers then shot them.

Authorities have said defendant Adel Habara, who previously was sentenced to death in this case, is a senior member of the Sinai-based militant organization Ansar Beit al-Maqdis. The group, however, did not claim responsibility for the 2013 attack.