EL-ARISH: An Eritrean woman shot in clashes with smugglers and police on Egypt’s border with Israel earlier in the week died of her injuries Sunday, raising the death toll to seven, a security official said.
The woman was among a group of African migrants who were trying to sneak into Israel from Egypt on Friday when the deadly clashes broke out.
Four Eritreans were killed on the spot by smugglers when migrants seized their weapons in a bid to escape, while two others were shot dead by Egyptian police barring them from illegally crossing the border.
The police detained 22 migrants on Friday and launched a manhunt for other members of the group estimated to number 60 — some of whom were said to be armed — and for the smugglers.
On Saturday, four of the migrants managed to cross into Israel, five others were arrested and two — an Eritrean and a Sudanese — were wounded as border guards opened fire, the official said.
Friday’s smuggling operation turned deadly when the traffickers demanded more money to release the migrants after a failed bid to smuggle them across the border, migrants told police.
Twenty-nine African migrants have now been killed this year trying to cross to Israel in search of a better life and job prospects, 24 of them by Egypt’s police, according to the security services, compared to 19 last year.
Cairo has rejected strong criticism from human rights groups of its policy of using potentially lethal force against migrants along its 250-kilometer (150-mile) border with Israel.
The Sinai desert border has become a major trafficking route for African migrants seeking jobs and for eastern European women headed for the sex trade.
