Beirut, Rabi'I 29, 1438, December 28, 2016, SPA -- Five Jordanians were sentenced to death by a State Security Court on charges of having ties to the IS group and planning terrorist acts in the kingdom, state media reported. The Jordanian court also handed terms ranging from three to 15 years of imprisonment with hard labour to another 16 Jordanians in the same case, dpa quoted Jordan's official Petra news agency as saying. The court charged the 21 members of the dismantled cell with carrying out terrorist acts, manufacturing and possessing explosive substances, and spreading terrorist ideologies, the agency said. The group was arrested in March during a military operation in the northern Jordanian town of Irbid, which is near the border with Syria. Jordan has been hit by several terrorist attacks this year. -- SPA 23:32 LOCAL TIME 20:32 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w300487