Egyptian President Declares State of Emergency

Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, has declared a three-month state of emergency in the country, after church bombings rocked the country over the weekend.

Two separate church bombings in the Egyptian cities of Alexandria and Tanta took the lives of 44 people on Sunday.

The attacks were carried out at two Coptic Christian churches.

Soon after the horrific bombings, the Islamic State group (ISIS) took responsibility for the attacks. The terrorist group chose the date, April 9th, specifically as it was Palm Sunday in the Christian faith – the first day of the Holy Week which leads up to Easter.

Egypt’s Christian minority has been the target of deadly attacks for the past couple of years.

After meeting with the country’s national defense council, el-Sisi delivered a speech outside of the presidential palace on Monday, declaring the three-month state of emergency.

The state of emergency will give more power to authorities in the country.

Police will have greater power of arrest as well as greater authority to perform seizures and surveillance – something that could severely limit the people’s freedom of movement within Egypt.

This is not the first time Egypt has operated under a state of emergency. In fact, the country was ruled under a state of emergency for decades in the past.

Most recently, a month-long state of emergency was declared after el-Sisi took power by overthrowing former president, Mohamed Morsi, in 2013.

The shift of power caused violent clashes in the country by Islamic protesters who attacked Christian properties and places of worship.