Egypt extends Sinai state of emergency by 3 months

Cairo lengthens clampdown on restive peninsula, introduces nighttime curfew to region’s residents

By AFP 25 January 2015, 5:00 pm

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Illustrative: Egyptian soldiers in an armored vehicle in northern Sinai, May 2013. (AP)

CAIRO, Egypt — Egypt on Sunday extended by three months a state of emergency in force since late October in areas of North Sinai after an attack that killed 30 soldiers.

The authorities are battling a dogged insurgency in North Sinai, where jihadists have carried out regular attacks on security forces since the army ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July 2013.

On October 24, a suicide bomber and gunmen killed 30 soldiers near the provincial capital of el-Arish.

The cabinet decided to extend the emergency by three months, including a night-time curfew between 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. local time.

The military is building a buffer zone along the border with Gaza to prevent militants infiltrating from the Palestinian enclave.