Three Israeli soldiers and a member of the Egyptian security forces died in an exchange of fire at the border between the two states on Saturday June 3. This type of incident, which is particularly rare, is thought to have been caused by the pursuit of a smuggler gone wrong.
Three Israeli soldiers and a member of Egypt’s security forces were killed Saturday in a rare exchange of fire near the border between the two countries, official sources from both sides said.
The Israeli army said an Egyptian assailant shot dead two soldiers “in the early morning… while they secured a military post at the Egyptian border”, triggering a manhunt in which a third soldier was killed.
An army statement identified the assailant as an Egyptian policeman, saying he was killed by Israeli troops after having been found “in Israeli territory”.
“An investigation is conducted in full cooperation with the Egyptian army,” the statement added.
A fourth soldier, a non-commissioned officer, was lightly wounded and evacuated to hospital, the Israeli army added.
An Egyptian army spokesman said “a member of the security forces… chased drug smugglers. During the chase, the security agent crossed the security fence (border)” and a fire exchange ensued.
Egypt was the first Arab country to make peace with Israel following the Camp David accords of 1978, though relations were not fully normalised.
Their shared border is largely peaceful, despite an insurgency in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula and occasional exchanges of fire between drug smugglers and Israeli troops.
Hours before the deadly shooting, Israeli soldiers had foiled an attempted drug smuggling at the border, seizing contraband goods estimated at 1.5 million shekels ($399,777), a spokesman said.
There have been several previous incidents along Israel’s border with Egypt.
Malo Pinatel, avec AFP
