PM imposes dusk-to-dawn curfew on areas in North Sinai

CAIRO - 16 January 2019: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly decided imposing a dusk-to-dawn curfew for three consecutive months on some areas of North Sinai, which has witnessed numerous terror attacks especially since 2013.

The curfew decision will be applied on areas from Tal Rafah, in the eastern part of the Sinai Peninsula,to the international border and from Awja till Mount Halal, MENA news agency reported. The decision was published in Egypt's official Gazette on Wednesday.

According to the decision, the curfew will be applied from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.starting Tuesday in these areas, except for Arish and the international road where the curfew will be applied from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. only.

The curfew decision will expire in conjunction with the end of the state of emergency decided earlier by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi according to presidential decree No 17/2019.

For the sixth time in a row, the Egyptian Parliament approved the extension of the state of emergency across the country for three months.

As per the Parliament’s decision, the Armed Forces and police shall maintain security throughout the country, protect public and private property and take "the necessary measures to counter terrorism."

The extension decision has come into force on January 15, 2019 at 1 a.m.

The state of emergency has been declared since April 9, 2018 after twin church bombings in Tanta (Delta) and Alexandria killed 40 people.