Egypt extends state of emergency for 3 months

The Egyptian parliament on Sunday approved a three-month extension of an already-imposed state of emergency due to security challenges facing the Arab country.

This is the seventh time the state of emergency is being renewed for three months since April 2017.

The parliament approved a presidential decree to extend the emergency state by another three months, starting from Jan. 15, according to official gazette..

Under the decree, military and police personnel should take necessary measures to face terrorism and maintain security across the country.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi first imposed a three-month nationwide state of emergency in April 2017, following a twin bombing at two churches in northern provinces of Gharbiya and Alexandria that killed at least 47 and wounded over 120 others.

Terrorism prevailed in Egypt since the military ousted former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in early July 2013 in response to mass protests against his 12-month reign and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.