Egypt to extend state of emergency for 3 months

Cairo: Egypt is to extend its nationwide state of emergency for three months from April 14, the official gazette said early on Saturday.
Egypt first imposed the current state of emergency in April 2017 after two church bombings killed at least 45 people.
It was extended in July and again in October then January.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi issued a decree on Saturday to extend a curfew already in place in a new declaration.
The latest extension was to allow security forces to "take (measures) necessary to confront the dangers and funding of terrorism and safeguard security in all parts of the country," the official gazette said.
Meanwhile, eight Egyptian soldiers and 14 militants were killed in fighting in central Sinai on Saturday when gunmen carrying explosive belts and grenades targeted a military checkpoint, the army said.
The attack was the largest against Egyptian security forces since Sisi won a second term in office last month, promising to work for stability and security in Egypt.
The militants attacked the checkpoint at around dawn, an army statement said.
Four of them detonated their explosive belts, killing the soldiers and wounding 15 others, it added.
Egypt has been fighting an extremist insurgency in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula since Sisi ousted Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013, after popular protests against Mursi's rule.