IDF discovers 2nd bomb on Egypt-Israeli border

IDF finds explosive device the same week it foiled second attempt to smuggle bomb; sappers detonate bomb from a distance.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Israel-Egypt border fence 390 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Israel-Egypt border fence 390
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The IDF intercepted a large bomb that was being moved from Egypt to Israel last week, the army announced on Monday.
The explosive is the second seized by security forces in the in the area in recent days.
“A regular patrol aimed at preventing smuggling efforts... identified the smugglers,” the IDF Spokesman’s Office said.
The terrorists evaded capture and returned to Egyptian territory.
Soldiers summoned a bomb disposal unit, which detonated the device from a distance.
“The Israel-Egypt border has recently turned into an area that is filled with activities of terrorist elements from the Gaza Strip and Sinai,” IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai said recently. The army increased its ground patrols to thwart plots aimed at striking Israeli civilian population centers, he said.
Last week, the IDF and the Israel Police intercepted a powerful bomb on the Egyptian border, and said it could have been used to carry out a mass-casualty attack in a southern community.
The bomb was found on the Israeli end of the Sinai-Gaza border, near the Philadelphi Corridor, by security forces who were carrying out antismuggling operations at night.
A man who was spotted carrying a bag threw down the item and fled back into Egypt, escaping capture.
“These incidents prove that smuggling routes... are exploited all the time by terrorist groups in order to carry out attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF forces,” the army said. “The alertness of soldiers and their successful acts prevented a terrorist attack.”