Egyptian President cuts curfew hours in parts of North Sinai

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi reduced the night curfew in Sinai Peninsula by three hours, media reported Tuesday.

"The curfew will be cut by three hours. It will start at 7 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. until 6 a.m. instead of 7.00 a.m." spokesman of the Egyptian president Ambassador Alaa Youssif was quoted by the state-run al-Ahram daily as saying.

On Oct25, Egypt announced a three-month curfew and a state of emergency in some parts of North Sinai following a blast targeting a military checkpoint in North Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid city, leaving more than 30 soldiers dead and dozens others injured, Xinhua reported.

The decision came after al-Sisi's meeting with leaders of North Sinai earlier Tuesday.

Yossif said that such a decision is meant to relieve the sufferings faced by the North Sinai residents.

Egypt has been witnessing unstable political conditions since Islamist president Mohamed Morsi's removal by the military in July 2013 following mass protests against his one-year rule and the following massive security crackdown on his loyalists that left nearly 1,000 killed and thousands more arrested.