On Thursday, the Egyptian parliament, headed by its speaker Dr. Hanafy ElGebali, approved a presidential decree, No 19 of 2021, to extend the state of emergency nationwide for addittional three months, starting Sunday, January 24th.
Under the decree, the armed forces and police should take whatever measures they see necessary to counter the threat of terrorism, maintain security across Egypt, and protect public and private property, as well as civilian lives.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi first imposed the three-month nationwide state of emergency in April 2017، following twin bombings at two churches in Gharbeya and Alexandria، which killed at least 47 and wounded over 120.
Egypt has been facing a wave of terror activities that killed hundreds of policemen, soldiers, and civilians since the overthrow of late former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and the later security crackdown on his loyalists, mostly from the currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.
Most of the terrorist attacks in Egypt over the past few years were claimed by a Sinai-based group affiliated with the regional ISIS militant group.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian army and police killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands of suspects during the country’s anti-terror war declared by El-Sisi following Morsi’s ouster.
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