Egypt restricts women travelling to Turkey

Egypt has imposed restrictions on female citizens travelling to Turkey, police said today, months after introducing similar measures for men to stop them joining the Islamic State jihadist group.
Women aged 18 to 40 are now required to obtain security clearance before going to Turkey, a senior police officer told AFP, without specifying why.
"A security clearance can be acquired within 72 hours, and it is now mandatory for women travelling to this country (Turkey)," the officer said.
The restriction took effect on Thursday, a Cairo airport official said.
In March Egypt's state-sponsored Islamic authority, Dar al-Ifta, warned women against marrying IS fighters over the Internet who woo them to travel to jihadist-controlled territory.

The compulsory security clearance for men, introduced in December, applies to war-torn Libya as well as Turkey.

Jihadists have regularly launched attacks in Egypt, mostly in the Sinai Peninsula, since Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was ousted in 2013, and officials say that many of them have fought in Syria, which borders Turkey.
In November Egypt's deadliest militant group, the Sinai Province, formerly known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, pledged allegiance to IS, heightening security concerns.
Jihadists say their attacks are in retaliation for a bloody government crackdown on Morsi supporters that has left hundreds dead and thousands jailed.