Date: Apr 26, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Egypt extends state of emergency ahead of Coptic Easter Associated Press CAIRO: Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi has extended a state of emergency imposed after deadly church bombings by Daesh (ISIS) in 2017. The decision to extend the state of emergency by three months was announced Thursday, ahead of Coptic Easter. Egypt has been battling militants for years, but the insurgency gained strength after the 2013 military overthrow of an elected but divisive Islamist president and is now led by a Sinai-based Daesh affiliate. Suicide bombers targeted Palm Sunday services at two churches in April 2017. Christians make up about 10 percent of the population in Muslim-majority Egypt.