CAIRO, July 4-- The Egyptian parliament approved on Tuesday a three-month extension of a state of emergency due to the security challenges facing the country, official MENA news agency reported. The parliament speaker said during a general session on Tuesday that he had been informed by the prime minister of the decision of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to extend the nationwide state of emergency for another three months. The extension starts from Monday evening, July 10. Sisi imposed the first three-month nationwide state of emergency in April following a twin bombings at two churches in northern provinces of Gharbiya and Alexandria killed at least 47 and wounded over 120. A similar suicide bombing at a Cairo church in December 2016 killed at least 28 worshippers. Egypt has been suffering a rising wave of terrorist activities following the military removal of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule. |