Egypt says five policemen shot dead on border with Israel

Aug 19, 2011, 13:42 GMT

Cairo - Five Egyptian policemen have been killed on the border with Israel since Thursday, a source at the Egyptian Interior Ministry said Friday.

The policemen were patrolling in the Egyptian region of Sinai when they came under random shooting from across the border, added the source.

The source gave no details about the identity of the assailants.

Early Friday, the semi-official newspaper Al-Ahram reported online that three Egyptian policemen were killed in an Israeli airstrike near the Egyptian border.

The report quoted a military source as saying that the plane was targeting infiltrators who had crossed into the Egyptian town of Rafah.

The Egyptian government is to hold an emergency meeting Friday night to discuss the situation in Sinai, reported Al Ahram.

The meeting is to be attended by representatives of the Egyptian army and the intelligence service, according to the report.

Tensions have mounted along Egypt's borders with Israel and the Gaza Strip after deadly attacks in southern Israel on Thursday.

The Egyptian army has been fighting gunmen and suspected terrorists in a massive-scale crackdown in the Sinai Peninsula since August 12.

On Friday, a bomb exploded near the border with Israel, but caused no casualties, an Egyptian army source said, contradicting earlier accounts of a suicide bomber killing a number of soldiers.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied that the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber or was the 'result of a hostile act' from Israel or by attackers.

Another source at the Egyptian intelligence service said the blast was likely caused by a bomb left behind in the region of Sinai from previous wars.

No details were available about the exact site of the explosion.

Authorities at Cairo airport tightened security around the office of the Israeli carrier El Al on Friday for fear of reprisals over the border killings, sources at the airport said.