Egyptian lawmakers on Tuesday extended for three months a state of emergency first declared following deadly April church bombings, state TV reported. Egypt had extended the state of emergency for a second time in October.
The latest extension is set to come into effect on Saturday, according to the official gazette. The emergency law expands police powers of arrest, surveillance and seizure, and can limit freedom of movement.
Under Egypt's constitution, the three-month state of emergency can only be renewed once, but the president can subsequently reinstate it. Parliament approved the current state of emergency in April last year, after two suicide bombings at churches on Palm Sunday, claimed by the Islamic State group, killed at least 45 people in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria.
The local affiliate of IS, based in North Sinai, claimed the attacks and threatened further violence against Egypt's Coptic Christian minority. Jihadists in May shot dead almost 30 Christians as they headed to a desert monastery south of Cairo.
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