Egypt's parliament approves extending state of emergency for 3 months
«Declaring a state of emergency in the country has become a necessity given the security and health conditions as well as the internal and regional developments and the continuation of state efforts to uproot terrorism,» the general committee of the House of Representatives said, Xinhua reports.
«The world lives in a health emergency situation that required imposing a state of emergency,» said the parliament speaker Ali Abdel Aal.
The approval came one day after Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly delivered a statement before the parliament, warning against «rogue elements supported by some malicious forces to target Egypt.»
Madbouly began his statement by referring to «the heinous terrorist attack» which hit Bir Al-Abd town in North Sinai on Thursday.
Madbouly added the police and Armed Forces should be ready at all times to stand up to these challenges.
Under the Egyptian constitution, presidential decisions to renew the state of emergency must be approved by the country's parliament.
Egypt's 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 the northern provinces of Gharbiya and Alexandria that killed at least 47 and wounded over 120 others.
Egypt has been facing a wave of terror activities that killed hundreds of policemen, soldiers and civilians since the popularly-backed military ouster of 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 Islamic State 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 al-Sisi following Morsi's ouster. Enditem