EL-ARISH: An Egyptian security official says a man from Sudan’s Darfur region was shot dead trying to sneak across the border into Israel.
Egyptian border guards surprised a group of Africans and their Egyptian smugglers trying to cross into Israel six miles (10 kilometers) south of the Rafah border town, said a security official.
The two sides exchanged fire and the Sudanese 28-year-old man was killed while two others were taken into custody.
The remaining Africans and their smugglers scattered into the desert border region.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Many migrants seeking political asylum and jobs try to cross into Israel with the help of Bedouin traffickers. Egypt has killed dozens of migrants in recent years.
The New York-based group Human Rights Watch this month urged Egypt to stop shooting migrants, saying its security forces have killed at least 85 migrants trying to cross into Israel since 2007.
Egypt, which holds the rotating chair of the United Nations refugee agency’s governing body, says its police fire warning shots in the air.
