A curfew imposed on the restive Sinai Peninsula following a bloody attack on security personnel in October will be shortened by three hours, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has announced.
The curfew decreed from 5 pm to 7 am will instead extend from 7 pm to 6 am, Sisi told tribal chiefs in a meeting on Tuesday.
The curfew was ordered following the bloody attack on a security checkpoint in Karam al-Qawadis, North Sinai, leaving at least 31 soldiers dead. It was one of the bloodiest attacks by extremist groups since the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsy by the army in 2013.
It prompted authorities to embark on evacuations and clearing of resident homes at the border to bulldoze and create a buffer zone that would help reduce the attacks.
Sisi also announced plans to construct thousands of housing units and other development projects in various areas of the peninsula which activists have complained of its absence from development plans.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
