Egypt demand for investigation for killings

EGYPT: An official protest is loaded by Egypt to Israel demanding an investigation into the killings of three security officials during an Israeli military operation near the border, Egyptian state media reported.

The official MENA news agency reported on Friday, “Egypt filed an official complaint with Israel following yesterday’s deaths at the border between Israel and Egypt.”

“Egypt has demanded an urgent probe into the circumstances of the deaths and injuries of Egyptian forces’ members inside our borders.”
State broadcaster Nile TV and MENA said on Thursday that three security officials were killed near the Israeli border but gave conflicting reports on the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

A MENA report on Thursday cited a military official as saying three policemen were accidentally killed near the border by Israeli helicopter fire aimed at fleeing militants who had launched multiple attacks in southern Israel earlier that day.

But on Friday the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper quoted a military official as saying the policemen were killed by gunmen trying to slip in from Israel.
The Israeli military said the assailants had come from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip through Sinai, where the Egyptian army was conducting a week-long security operation to root out some 1,200 to 1,300 militants believed to be roaming the area.

Reuters news agency reported that the Egyptian army said an army officer and two other security officials died on the Egyptian side of the border during an Israeli raid pursuing suspects of Thursday’s attacks.

The killings have sparked anger among the Egyptian public, especially after Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, said Thursday’s attacks in southern Israel reflect “the weakening of Egypt’s hold in the Sinai and the broadening of activities by terror elements”.

(source: Agencies and Al-Jazeera)