A law authorizing the extension of the period of the state of emergency for further three months was adopted on Monday during an extraordinary Cabinet meeting which was chaired by Mali's Interim President Dioncounda Traore, an official statement from the Cabinet said.

The authorities said that the good progress of the ongoing military operations to liberate the occupied regions in the North and the need to maintain social order across the national territory was the justification for the extension of the state of emergency.

On Jan. 11, the Malian government declared a state of emergency as from Jan. 12 across the national territory for a period of 10 days.

While noting that the reasons that justify the declaration of a state of emergency were in conformity with the Malian Constitution, the government noted that the decision was part of the measures that are being taken to manage the crisis that arose from the continued occupation of the Northern regions of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal as well as parts of Mopti.

The government said that in addition to the crisis in the North, it wanted to control the numerous demonstrations that sometimes paralyzed activities in Bamako and other major towns across the country.