CAIRO (AFP) - An Egyptian court has branded ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria group) a "terrorist" organisation, the official news agency MENA reported.

An Egyptian militant group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which pledged allegiance to ISIS earlier in November, has itself also been designated a terrorist organisation under a similar ruling.

Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, based in the restive Sinai Peninsula, has killed scores of police and soldiers since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July last year.

MENA said the ISIS ruling, which came on Sunday, followed a suit filed by a lawyer.