Three Israeli soldiers and Egyptian border guard killed in gun battle at border

Three Israeli soldiers and an Egyptian border guard have been killed in a rare gun battle on the two countries' border.

Israeli authorities said the officer crossed the border and killed the three soldiers before he was shot dead by other troops.

Egyptian officials said the guard had been chasing drug smugglers when he entered Israel through the Nitzana border crossing.

Fighting between the two countries is extremely rare, as Israel and Egypt have been at peace for over 40 years and have strong security cooperation.

It was the first deadly exchange of fire along the Israel-Egypt border in over a decade.

Lieutenant colonel Richard Hecht, an Israeli army spokesperson, said the fighting began overnight when soldiers thwarted a drug-smuggling attempt across Israel's southern border. He said several hours later, two soldiers in a guard post were shot and killed. Their bodies were found after the shooting, when they did not respond to radio communications. The army said the Egyptian border guard was killed in a second exchange of fire in which a third Israeli soldier was killed. The Egyptian military said an Egyptian border guard crossed the border security barrier and exchanged fire with Israeli forces while he was chasing drug traffickers.

It said in a statement that their officer was killed along with three Israeli troops.

Lt. Col. Hecht said an investigation was being conducted in full cooperation with the Egyptian army, and that troops were searching for other possible assailants.

Egypt’s Defense Minister, General Mohamed Zaki, spoke by phone with his Israeli counterpart to discuss the shooting on the border, and “the mutual coordination to take measures to prevent such incidents in the future”.

The Egyptian minister also offered condolences for the dead Israeli troops, the military said in a statement.

Criminals sometimes smuggle drugs across the border, while Islamic militant groups are also active in Egypt’s restive north Sinai. Israel built a fence along the porous border a decade ago to halt the entry of African migrants and Islamic militants who are active in Egypt’s Sinai desert.

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