The Egyptian army’s announcement of thwarting a smuggling operation on the border is the second within a week (Israeli press)
The Egyptian army announced the thwarting of a new drug smuggling operation and the killing of 3 smugglers on the Egyptian border with Israel, in the second announcement of its kind within a week.
The official military spokesman for the Egyptian Armed Forces, Gharib Abdel Hafez, said yesterday, Thursday, that the Egyptian army thwarted “a narcotic smuggling attempt estimated at approximately 300 kilograms of various types of narcotic substances” on the country’s northeastern border.
This is the second incident of its kind within a few days, as the Egyptian authorities announced - last Tuesday - that they had thwarted a similar attempt near a border crossing with Israel, resulting in the killing of one smuggler and the arrest of 6 others.
The Israeli army spokesman also announced - last Tuesday - that his forces opened fire on gunmen in the border area with Egypt near Al-Awja, confirming that one of his soldiers was injured in the clash.
The Israeli army spokesman reported that there were casualties during the clash, noting that about 20 suspects - including gunmen - arrived from Egypt to the border area.
Israeli Channel 7 also reported an unusual exchange of gunfire on the border with Egypt, and Israeli Army Radio suggested that the suspects were trying to smuggle drugs into Israel.
Palestinian accounts on the “X” platform (formerly Twitter) reported from Israeli media that gunmen were killed and Israeli soldiers were injured in those clashes.
Source: French + Reuters