In Egypt, the state of emergency has been renewed for another three months. President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi has endorsed a new decree. The state of emergency gives the police, the military and the intelligence services more extensive powers.
The state of emergency has been in effect in the North African country since April 2017 after two attacks on churches of the Coptic Christians. A total of 45 people died in the attacks in the northern cities of Tanta and Alexandria. They are claimed by terrorist group Islamic State (IS).
In the fight against terrorism, the Egyptian army also announced that during the operation against IS in Sinai it has killed 450 probable jihadists in the past eight months. Thirty soldiers died in the same period.
The operation ‘Sinai 2018’ was launched on 9 February in collaboration with the police after an attack on a mosque in the north of the peninsula. That cost the lives of more than 300 people.
