A border guard was killed and three others were injured Sunday in a car crash during a chase with smugglers in New Valley governorate, according to state-run MENA.
The security forces were on a task to arrest a group of smugglers reported to be active in a mountainous area near Al-Farafa.
Military reinforcements were able to arrest the alleged smugglers, who will be sent to military prosecution, reported MENA.
The Western Desert has suffered from security issues, with one of the largest militant attacks occurring last July on a checkpoint in the governorate, killing 21 Egyptian soldiers.
Last May, in a similar attack five Egyptian border guards were killed in the same area. Radical militants have been staging attacks and bombings against policemen and soldiers since the former president Mohamed Morsi’s ouster in July 2013.
In addition to attacks by assailants, the Egypt-Libya border has been affected by the turmoil which drastically escalated in Libya, since retired General Khalifa Haftar launched a campaign in May to root out “terrorism” in the city of Benghazi.
On Sunday, Egyptian authorities re-opened the Salloum border crossing with Libya, allowing for the movement of trucks, after a 40-day suspension, MENA reported.
Scores of Egyptians have been fleeing the fighting by crossing the Salloum border or through an emergency lift from Tunisia organised by the Egyptian government. Intensified confrontations between Libya’s rival militias left at least 23 Egyptians death last July.
