CAIRO, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Egypt extended its nationwide state of emergency for three months starting from Oct. 15, the official gazette said on Tuesday.

The first three-month state of emergency was imposed in April 2017, following twin bombings on two churches in northern provinces of Gharbiya and Alexandria that killed at least 47 and wounded more than 120 others.

The extension was to allow armed forces and the police to "take necessary measures to confront the dangers and funding of terrorism and safeguard security in all parts of the country," the official gazette said.

The country has been suffering a wave of terrorist attacks which killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers following the military removal of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Terror attacks had been centered in restive North Sinai before spreading to several provinces including the capital Cairo and starting to target the Coptic minority via church bombings.

Most of the attacks were claimed by the so-called Wilayat Sinai (Sinai State or Province), a Sinai-based group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) regional terrorist group.

Since Feb. 9, Egypt has started a massive anti-terror operation in North Sinai that killed nearly 400 militants. Enditem

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