Smugglers kill Egyptian police officer in shootout on border with Israel
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Egypt's state-owned news agency is reporting that smugglers killed a police officer during a shootout on the border with Israel.
The Middle East News Agency says Mohammad el-Qirsh was killed Monday when his patrol tried to stop the smugglers from crossing into Israel.
The agency says police are searching for the smugglers in the desert border area in the Sinai peninsula.
Many refugees and other migrants searching for better lives cross the Sinai in hopes of reaching Israel. Most of them are Africans. Border guards have detained dozens of migrants and killed several others over the past year.