Egypt forces kill 5 Sudanese migrants at Sinai borders
Xinhua, November 23, 2015 Adjust font size:
The Egyptian forces shot dead five illegal Sudanese migrants on Monday as they were attempting to cross the borders between Egypt's Sinai and Israel, the Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement.
"The forces tasked with securing the border area spotted at dawn today a group of Africans trying to sneak from west to east through the international border in cooperation with criminal elements involved in illegal immigration," Brigadier-general Mohamed Samir said in the statement.
He added that the forces fired warning shots and moved to arrest them but the group opened fire at the forces and injured one of the recruits.
"The forces dealt with the source of gunfire to stop and arrest the criminal elements, killing five, wounding six and arresting another five who all turned out to be Sudanese," the statement explained.
The Egyptian authorities have recurrently been busting illegal migrants, mostly from African states, attempting to infiltrate from the Egyptian borders to adjacent Israel.
Bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, Egypt's North Sinai province has been the center of self-proclaimed "Islamist" militants in the country over the past few chaotic years, with recurrent exchanges of anti-government militant attacks and anti-terrorist security raids. Endit