CAIRO, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree to extend the national state of emergency for another three months starting 1 a.m. Thursday (2300 GMT Wednesday), the official gazette reported.

The extension decree, pending the parliament's approval in seven days, allows 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 gazette said.

Al-Sisi imposed a three-month state of emergency in April 2017, after the twin bombings at two churches in the northern provinces of Gharbiya and Alexandria which killed at least 47 and wounded more than 120 others. The state of emergency has since been extended every three months.

Egypt has been suffering a wave of terrorist attacks that 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 Egypt's restive North Sinai before spreading to several other provinces including the capital Cairo and starting to target the Coptic minority by church bombings.

Most of the attacks were claimed by the Wilayat Sinai, a Sinai-based group affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist organization. Enditem

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