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Sudanese migrants killed trying to cross into Israel from Egypt Sudanese migrants killed trying to cross into Israel from Egypt
(about 3 hours later)
Six Sudanese migrants have been killed and 17 wounded during a gun battle between Egyptian security forces and smugglers as they tried to illegally enter Israel from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, security officials said. Egyptian border forces have shot dead five Sudanese migrants trying to cross from Egypt’s turbulent North Sinai region into Israel, the military said in a statement.
Smugglers transferred the migrants in pickup trucks and dropped them off close to the border south of the town of Rafah, before firing at border forces to allow the migrants to cross into Israel, the officials said. “Law enforcement tasked with protecting the border spotted at dawn today a group of Africans trying to sneak though the international border in cooperation with criminal elements involved in illegal immigration,” the military said.
The smugglers then fled, leaving behind the dead and wounded migrants, who were taken to a hospital in Rafah for treatment. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity. “The force fired several warning shots and moved to arrest those trespassers who shot at the security force. The force engaged them, killing five, injuring six and arresting five more. All of them were Sudanese.”
The northern part of the peninsula, where Egyptian authorities are battling a jihadi insurgency, is a major route for African migrants trying to reach Israel.The northern part of the peninsula, where Egyptian authorities are battling a jihadi insurgency, is a major route for African migrants trying to reach Israel.
Last week, 15 Sudanese were killed and eight wounded while trying to illegally cross into Israel. On 15 November, Egyptian police found the bodies of 15 African migrants who appeared to have been shot dead in the same region, security sources said at the time. They said another eight migrants had been wounded. It was not clear who had attacked the migrants or which countries they had originated from.
Egyptian border police often shot dead, and wounded, migrants at the border as they tried to enter Israel between 2009 and 2011.