AL-ARISH: An Egyptian medical official says border guards have fatally shot a Sudanese migrant who was trying to cross illegally into Israel.
Imad Kharboush, head of the Northern Sinai ambulance department, says the body of the 28-year-old Sudanese man arrived at the hospital in Al-Arish on Tuesday.
Kharboush says the man was shot in the stomach some about 8 km south of the Rafah border crossing.
Hundreds of Africans seeking political asylum and jobs try to cross from Egypt into Israel each year.
On Monday an Egyptian border policeman was shot dead by smugglers as he tried to stop a group of African migrants from crossing the border illegally into Israel, a security official said.
Mohamed Ahmed Hassanein, 21, was shot in the chest by smugglers who were trying to sneak a group of African migrants into Israel from an area south of the border town of Rafah, the official told AFP.
He was taken to El-Arish hospital (in north Sinai) but died of his wounds, the official said, adding that the smugglers and migrants had escaped.
In a similar incident, border policeman Mahmoud al-Esnawi Ahmed, 21, was shot in the leg as he tried to stop smugglers from helping another group of African migrants from reaching Israel, also south of Rafah, the official said. -Agencies
