Egypt cabinet approves extension of state of emergency

Egypt’s cabinet on Friday approved the extension of a countrywide state of emergency for another three months, according to reports on Egyptian state television.

Decreed by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the move must still be formally approved by parliament.

In April, al-Sisi declared a three-month state of emergency following a deadly twin attack on two churches in northern Egypt that left 45 people dead.

The Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for those attacks, which coincided with the Christian Palm Sunday holiday.

The state of emergency allows the authorities to take exceptional security measures, including the referral of terrorism suspects to state security courts, the imposition of curfews and the confiscation of newspapers.