Egyptian lawmakers on Tuesday (January 9th) extended for three months a state of emergency first declared following deadly April church bombings, AFP reported.
Egypt had extended the state of emergency for a second time in October.
The latest extension is set to come into effect on Saturday, according to the official gazette.
Under Egypt's constitution, the three-month state of emergency can only be renewed once, but the president can subsequently reinstate it.
Parliament approved the current state of emergency in April last year, after two suicide bombings at churches on Palm Sunday, claimed by the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS), killed at least 45 people in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria.
The local affiliate of ISIS, based in North Sinai, claimed the attacks and threatened further violence against Egypt's Coptic Christian minority.
