'Egypt seizes Gaza-bound anti-aircraft missiles in Sinai'
LAST UPDATED: 09/26/2011 11:33
Officials say missiles, launchers were smuggled through Sudan or Libya; seizure comes amid Sinai crackdown against militants, smuggling.
![Shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles [file]](../HttpHandlers/ShowImage.ashx?ID=174983 "Shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles [file]")
Shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles [file] Photo: Mohamed Azakir / Reuters
Egyptian
security forces said Sunday that they have seized eight anti-aircraft
missiles and four shoulder launchers in the Sinai Peninsula, AFP
reported.
The weaponry entered Egypt either from Sudan or Libya,
the officials said, adding that they were probably destined for the Gaza
Strip, according to the report. The smugglers managed to flee before
security forces arrived at the location near the Suez canal.
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'Egypt mulling buffer zone on Gaza border'
Late last month, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that Egyptian officials were finalizing plans to combat smuggling from the Sinai Peninsula into the Gaza Strip.
High-level Egyptian security sources said that the country was
considering establishing a 5-kilometer buffer zone along its border with
the Gaza Strip, and that heavy excavation equipment had been moved to
the border in order to destroy smuggling tunnels, according to the Al-Masry Al-Youm report.
Egypt has been in pursuit of elements believed to be connected with acts
of sabotage in Sinai, notably, repeated attempts to blow up the
pipeline which carries natural gas to both Jordan and Israel. In efforts
to restrict the movement of these elements, Egypt has coordinated with
Hamas to prevent infiltration across the border in either direction,
according to a report in Al-Shorouk last month.
The report added that Egypt has made it clear to Hamas that any
Palestinians caught infiltrating into Sinai will be handed over to
Egyptian security authorities.
The Egyptian military has reinforced its security along the border with
Israel in the aftermath of last month's multi-stage terror attack,
emanating from Sinai, in which eight Israelis were killed.
Yaakov Katz contributed to this report.