Egypt announced the renewal of the state of emergency for another three months making it the fourth time the state has been renewed since it was first implemented a year ago, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported. The renewal went into effect at 13:00 local time on Saturday.

Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, issued the decree, extending the permission of the armed forces and police to do whatever it takes to combat terrorism and its funders, securing all parts of the country.

The decision came after the Egyptian military announced early Saturday that it had killed 27 militants in the previous two days in the operation in Sinai, which began in February.

Since then, more than 100 militants and at least 22 Egyptian soldiers were killed in the operation, according to the Egyptian army.