Middle East News
Report: Egypt mulls buffer zone on border with Gaza
Aug 28, 2011, 12:48 GMT
Cairo- Egypt is considering setting up a buffer zone on its border with the Gaza Strip following recent bloodshed, the independent newspaper Al Masry Al Youm reported Sunday.
The plan includes removing smuggling tunnels running across the 14-kilometre-long border with Gaza.
Security agencies in the Egyptian border town of Rafah are poised to start demolishing the tunnels used in smuggling arms and goods, said the report - citing heavy digging equipment spotted for removing the tunnels.
Five Egyptian policemen were killed by Israel on August 19 during hunt for Palestinian militants near the border with Egypt who had attacked Israeli vehicles, killing eight.
The deaths have triggered outrage in Egypt, causing the worst crisis between the two countries since they signed a peace treaty in 1979.
Egyptian army and security troops have recently launched a campaign in the Sinai peninsula to restore central government control and track down those behind attacks on police stations and a pipeline transporting gas to Israel.
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