CAIRO, Feb 2 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's Cassation Court accepted on Monday an appeal into the conviction of 11 defendants accused of killing a police officer, ordering a retrial.

Major General Nabil Farrag was killed in a security raid on the city of Kerdasa in Giza, in September 2013. Farrag was the deputy security director of the Giza governorate.

The Giza Criminal Court had sentenced 12 defendants to death in August 2014 for the major general's murder. Ten other defendants were sentenced to life in prison and one defendant was acquitted.

Seven of those sentenced to death will be retried, alongside four of those sentenced to life in prison, as per Monday's decision.

The remaining five defendants sentenced to death in August were sentenced in absentia. They cannot appeal their verdicts before they turn themselves in.

A force from the Interior Ministry had raided the city of Kerdasa in September 2013, supported by army forces, to arrest a number of fugitive defendants. The raid left Farrag killed and nine security personnel injured.

Around 200 wanted people were arrested during the raid. They were accused of killing Farrag, attempted murder of policemen, possession of firearms and explosives, resisting the authorities and possession of unlicensed communication devices. They were also accused of establishing and managing an illegal organisation to stall the constitution and state institutions.