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Egypt has declared a three-month state of emergency in the restive North Sinai province after 31 soldiers have been killed in two different terrorist attacks.
The decision was taken late yesterday by the National Defence Council, convened by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi after an urgent meeting, according to Egyptian state-run TV.
The state of emergency will last for three months and will include a daily curfew from 5 p.m to 7 a.m until further notice.
The decision came after two different terrorist attacks yesterday which killed 31 Egyptian soldiers and injured 26 others close to the Israeli and Gaza Strip borders in the North Sinai province.
The country has announced a three-day national mourning period. Authorities also closed the Rafah border crossing with Gaza.
A car bomb targeted an army checkpoint in Sheikh Zwuied area in North Sinai yesterday, killing 28 soldiers and injuring 26 others, said Salah Sallam, the head of Doctors Syndicate in North Sinai who termed it a terrorist attack, according to CBC, an Egyptian private channel.
In a separate incident, three other soldiers were killed when unknown gunmen opened fire at a military checkpoint near al-Arish city, close to Egypt's border with Gaza.
North Sinai has witnessed many violent attacks by militants since the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, that toppled ex-president Hosni Mubarak.
Sinai-based Ansar Beyt al-Maqdis militants have escalated its attacks on police and military officials after the ouster of former president Mohammed Morsi in July last year. Over 500 security personnels have been reported killed since then.
In July, militants attacked a military checkpoint in Al-Wadi Al-Gedid governorate in southern Egypt which claimed the lives of 21 Egyptian border guards and left four others injured.
The military has launched security campaigns in the area, arrested suspects and demolished houses belonged to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.
