Egypt extends Sinai state of emergency by 3 months

Egyptian authorities have extended by three months a state of emergency in areas of North Sinai Peninsula.

On Sunday, the Egyptian authorities extended the emergency by three months, including a night-time curfew between 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

The state of emergency has been declared in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula since a militant attack on an Egyptian army checkpoint killed more than 30 soldiers in October 2014.

The Egyptian military considers the Sinai Peninsula a safe haven for gunmen, who use the region as a base for their “acts of terror.”

Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, an al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group, has claimed responsibility for most of the terrorist attacks in the region.

As another aftermath of the attack residents living along the border between northern Sinai and the besieged Gaza Strip have been also ordered to relocate.

Early in January, reports said that the Egyptian military has begun to demolish over 1,200 homes to double the width of a buffer zone constructed along the border with the Gaza Strip.

According to Egyptian army sources, the military aimed to increase the size of the existing 500-meter buffer zone along the Gazan border to a full kilometer.