Tunisia extends state of emergency for three more months

The office of Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi, who is pictured here in Carthage Palace, eastern Tunis, on October 31, 2017, says the extension of the state of emergency will go into force on Sunday. Fethi Belaid / AFP

Tunisia's president has decided to extend the state of emergency in the country for three more months.

President Beji Caid Essebsi's office said on Friday that the decision will take effect on Sunday.

The state of emergency has been in place since November 2015. It gives more power to police, especially to ban strikes and gatherings.

The decision comes after a police commander was stabbed to death by a suspected Islamic extremist near the parliament in Tunis earlier this month.

Tunisia was hit by major extremist attacks in 2015, including at the famed Bardo Museum in the capital, where 22 people were killed. An attack on a beach resort near Sousse also killed 38 people, while an attack on a bus carrying presidential guards in Tunis killed 12.

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