CAIRO, Aug 15, 2012 (AFP) -
CAIRO, Aug 15, 2012 (AFP) –
Smugglers shot and wounded an Egyptian policeman near the border with Israel on Wednesday, the official MENA news agency reported, as the military conducts a campaign against Islamist
militants in the area.
The conscript of the Central Security Forces was shot in the back when he tried to intercept smugglers guiding African migrants into Israel, the news agency reported.
Troops, backed by tanks and helicopters, have massed in Sinai to try to defeat Islamist militants in the lawless peninsula after an August 5 ambush killed 16 soldiers at a border post.
The peninsula has become a haven for militants and smugglers who had taken advantage of a security vacuum following the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.
