CAIRO
Egypt has declared a three-month state of emergency in parts of the northern Sinai Peninsula, during which a nighttime curfew will also be imposed, following a deadly attack on Friday that left 26 soldiers dead.
The curfew will come into effect starting Saturday from 5pm (1500 GMT) to 7am (0500 GMT) for a three-month period or until further notice, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi decreed following a meeting of Egypt's National Defense Council.
The Egyptian leader also instructed the army and police to "do whatever is necessary to counter the dangers of terrorism and its funding and to safeguard security in the region."
Violators, the presidential decree asserted, would be jailed.
A subsequent presidential statement said that Egypt's Supreme Military Council would convene on Saturday for an emergency meeting – under al-Sisi's leadership – to take "urgent measures in the field" in line with the presidential decree.
Al-Sisi also ordered three days of national mourning, starting Saturday, for the victims of Friday's attack.
The National Defense Council convened under al-Sisi's leadership in the presence of the ministers of defense, interior, foreign affairs and finance, along with several top security and military officials.
Khaled al-Khatib, head of the Health Ministry's emergency department, told Anadolu Agency earlier that 26 soldiers had been killed – and 28 others injured – by a car bomb that went off at an army checkpoint in North Sinai on Friday.
Unidentified gunmen also attacked another army checkpoint in the same town, but it remains unclear whether that attack left any casualties.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for Friday's twin attacks, the latest in a series of deadly assaults – which have mainly targeted security forces – since last year's ouster of president Mohamed Morsi by the army.
Two shadowy militant groups – "Ansar Beit al-Maqdis," which is largely active in the Sinai Peninsula, and "Agnad Misr" – have both claimed responsibility for previous attacks.
For the past 16 months, the Egyptian army has waged a major offensive against militant groups said to be based in the Sinai Peninsula, which shares borders with both Israel and the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Since last year's ouster of Mohamed Morsi – Egypt's first freely elected president – by the army, the restive peninsula has seen a spate of attacks by unidentified militants on security personnel.
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