CAIRO, June 24, 2018 (MENA) – The Egyptian parliament on Sunday approved presidential decree no.266 of 2018 to extend a nationwide state of emergency for three months as of July 14, 2018. In a plenary session, Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal said the decree was endorsed after securing the required two-thirds majority of votes. The decree authorizes the army and police to take the necessary steps to combat terrorism in order to preserve the safety of citizens and public property across the nation. The state of emergency was first imposed in April 2017 after two church bombings killed 47 people. It has been renewed every three months ever since.