Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has announced a three-month state of emergency following twin church bombings by the so-called Islamic State group that killed dozens on Palm on Sunday.
The attacks in the Nile Delta cities of Tanta and Alexandria followed a Cairo church bombing in December and came weeks before a planned visit by Catholic Pope Francis intended to show support for Egypt’s Christian minority.
Sisi declared the “three-month” state of emergency, which he must present to parliament within a week.
Seventeen people including at least four police officers were killed in that attack, which the interior ministry said was caused by a suicide bomber who blew himself up when prevented from entering the church.
Egypt had been ruled under emergency law, which allows police expanded powers of arrest and surveillance, for decades before 2012.
