Israeli troops kill infiltrator near Egypt border (Roundup)

Jun 16, 2010, 15:54 GMT

Tel Aviv - Israeli soldiers shot dead a man who had infiltrated into Israel from Egypt early Wednesday morning, amid conflicting reports as to his identity and motivation.

An Israeli military spokesman said the man was a drug smuggler armed with a semi-automatic Kalashnikov rifle and trying to infiltrate Israel from Sinai.

Drugs were found at the scene of the incident, which took place shortly before dawn about 40 kilometres north of the Israeli port city of Eilat, at the tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, the spokesman said.

The soldiers spotted a group of around 11 people trying to sneak across the border. They fled back into the Sinai when they became aware that they had been detected, dropping the bags they were carrying, according to the Israeli military.

Relatives of the dead man however said he was an Egyptian Bedouin who had been helping African refugees cross the border into Israel illegally. They said they heard of the incident from the refugees he had been trying to help and who fled back to his home area when the shooting started.

More than 20,000 Africans have illegally entered Israel through the central Sinai area in recent years, according to Israeli statistics.

Over 100 Africans attempting to cross the border have been shot and killed by Egyptian border security forces, and dozens more injured.