Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has extended a state of emergency imposed after deadly church bombings by the Islamic State group in 2017.

The decision to extend the state of emergency by three months was announced Thursday, ahead of Coptic Easter.

Egypt has been battling Islamic 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 Islamic State affiliate.

Suicide bombers targeted Palm Sunday services at two churches in April 2017. Christians make up about 10% of the population in Muslim-majority Egypt.