EL-ARISH: Egyptian police shot and killed a Sudanese man, and arrested two others, as they tried to cross the border illegally into Israel, a security official said on Thursday.
The three Sudanese migrants were trying to cross Egypt’s Sinai border into Israel on Wednesday when a routine police patrol spotted them.
"Police warned the migrants to stop but they continued to try to cross the border. Police were then forced to shoot," the security official told AFP.
"One migrant was killed after sustaining gunshot wounds to the head and right leg. His body was taken to El-Arish hospital," in north Sinai, the official said.
The two others, who have been arrested, sustained injuries as they tried to cross over the barbed wire, he added.
Dr. Sami Anwar, head of el-Arish Hospital, said the migrants paid traffickers $3,000 each to cross the border.
Cairo has come under fire from human rights groups condemning its policy of using lethal force against migrants.
The 250-kilometer (150-mile) border with Israel has become a major trafficking route for African migrants seeking jobs in the Jewish state.
