CAIRO: Security forces have been on alert on the Egypt-Gaza borders after security services received information over “terrorist elements” infiltrating from Gaza to North Sinai; Sinai-based militants are also on the lookout for the infiltrators, Egyptian security sources told Youm7 Tuesday.
Security forces blocked all roads to the 1–kilometer wide buffer zone along the borders shared with Gaza. Hundreds of smuggling tunnels have been destroyed in the past two years, especially after the buffer zone was evacuated starting October 2014.
However, several tunnels that stretch for over a kilometer have also been discovered.
Meanwhile, four gunmen were killed Tuesday after the military shelled “terrorist hubs” in North Sinai, according to Sky News. Three attacks against forces in Sheikh Zuwayed and Rafah were foiled, but two policemen sustained minor injuries after their vehicle was targeted by a missile, security sources in North Sinai told Youm7.
Also on Tuesday, the house of a policeman in Arish was torched, and a Bedouin child was killed and three other children were injured in Sheikh Zuwayed after shrapnel of a missile, whose source is unknown, fell over their home, Youm7 reported.
Militants North Sinai, previously known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis and self-proclaiming themselves as Sinai Province since 2014, have launched numerous attacks at military personnel and services since the 2013 ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. The attacks have killed hundreds of soldiers as well as left victims among civilians.