(Reuters) Egyptian police shot dead two migrants from the Ivory Coast and arrested six other Africans as they tried to slip across the border into Israel illegally overnight, Egyptian security sources said Wednesday.
“An Egyptian security patrol saw a youth of about 22 years old and a girl of about 18 trying to get over barbed wire dividing Egypt and Israel,” one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“When they were asked to stop, they refused and tried to flee in the direction of Israeli territory, leading police to open fire on them,” the source said.
The sources said Egyptian security men also detained four Eritrean women and two Ethiopian men who tried to enter Israel elsewhere along the border.
Sinai is a main conduit for traffickers trying to take mainly African migrants to Israel for work or asylum. Police have opened fire at many of the migrants, killing several last year.
Earlier this month, Egyptian police shot dead another migrant from Ivory Coast who was trying to cross into Israel. In December, people traffickers shot dead an Egyptian soldier in an exchange of fire at the border.
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EDITOR’S NOTE
Shooting these poor unarmed civilians to death was a barbaric, criminal act on the part of Egyptian police. The only crime these poor immigrants committed was trying to earn a living in another country since they were unable to live their own country because of the parasite dictators who are in power.