Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi issued a decree on Tuesday extending for three months the state of emergency in a number of troubled spots in North Sinai. The renewed state of emergency will be enforced in the cities of Arish, Sheikh Zuwayed and Rafah, according to Sisi’s decree.It will also be holding in the surrounding areas around Rafah hill and Al Ouga town east of North Sinai and from western Arish to the Al-Halal Mountain.
The state of emergency was first introduced in October 2014 following an attack that killed over 30 soldiers.
Since then, soldiers and tanks have been occupying the streets of towns and cities in the region to thwart attacks.
North Sinai has witnessed a wave of bombings and other forms of attacks targeting members of the security forces since former president Mohamed Morsi, a senior member of the banned Muslim Brotherhood was deposed by the army in July 2013.
It is a region suspected to be harbouring elements of the Islamic State (IS) and their sympathisers among other militants active in the area.
A Russian passenger plane was brought down in the Sinai last October killing all 224 people on board in an incident blamed on terrorism.
IS which governs large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and boasts of a foothold in North Africa including Libya had claimed responsibility for apparently blowing up the aircraft out of the skies above the Sinai desert.
