Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi extended the state of emergency throughout the country for three months.

:: Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi extended the state of emergency throughout the country for a period of three months starting from Jan. 13 in a decree issued on Tuesday to help tackle “the dangers and funding of terrorism”, state news agency MENA said on Tuesday.

Article II of the decree states that the armed forces and the police force shall take the necessary measures to confront the dangers of terrorism and its financing, to maintain security throughout the country, to protect public and private property and to protect the lives of the citizens.

Article three specifies that the Prime Minister shall be delegated in the terms of reference of the President of the Republic provided for in Law No. 162 of 1958 on the state of emergency.

Article four stipulates that any person who contravenes the orders issued by the President of the Republic shall be punished by imprisonment.

On Oct. 12 last year, Sisi passed a resolution approved by the Council of Ministers to declare a state of emergency throughout the country for three months after the incident of the al-Wahat attack, in which 17 policemen were killed.

Egypt first imposed the current state of emergency last April after two church bombings killed at least 45 people. It was extended in July and again in October.

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,” MENA reported, citing Egypt’s official gazette.

Egypt faces an ISIS insurgency in the remote North Sinai region that has killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen in recent years and has expanded to include attacks on civilians.

Other militants operating in the western desert bordering Libya have also attacked security forces.

Attacks south of Cairo in the past week, one of them claimed by ISIS, have targeted Christians.