Egypt's highest appeals court has upheld death sentences for 13 people convicted of terror charges over attacks in the capital in which explosive devices killed at least two police officers.

The Court of Cassation Tuesday upheld life sentences for 17 others and lesser sentences for another nine, all on similar charges.

The defendants were accused of attempting to kill policemen and civilians by planting explosive devices outside a university campus in December 2014 and a presidential palace the following month. The attacks also wounded 12 people.

The initial sentences were handed down in 2017, with five others acquitted.

Egypt has come under international criticism in recent years for handing down mass death sentences. Most such sentences have been tied up in the courts and never carried out.