Unclear if infiltrators at same site where large explosive device was recently found were terrorists or smugglers.
By YAAKOV LAPPINIsrael-Egypt border fence 390(photo credit: REUTERS)
The IDF identified and engaged a group of infiltrators attempting to cross the border from Egypt overnight Monday, and killed one suspect in an ensuing firefight.It is not clear whether the infiltrators were terrorists or criminal smugglers. The IDF is investigating the incident.The incident began during a routine overnight operation along the Israel-Egypt border.Soldiers spotted several suspects and called on them to stop. When the infiltrators failed to respond, soldiers fired at their legs in line with standard procedure, the IDF Spokesman’s Office said. The infiltrators then returned fire.One suspect was hit in the exchange and died from his injuries.The remaining infiltrators escaped back to Sinai.The breach occurred at the same site in which security forces discovered a large explosive device last week.The bomb was the second seized in the in the area in recent days.“The Israel-Egypt border has recently turned into an area that is filled with activities of terrorist elements from the Gaza Strip and Sinai,” IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai said recently.The army has increased its ground patrols to thwart plots aimed at striking Israeli civilian population centers, he added.
The IDF also reopened Route 12 this week, scene of a deadly terrorist attack last August that claimed the lives of eight Israelis.“These incidents prove that smuggling routes... are exploited all the time by terrorist groups in order to carry out attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF forces,” the army said. “The alertness of soldiers and their successful acts prevented a terrorist attack.”
