A suicide bomber attacked Egyptian troops stationed near the border with Israel Friday morning, setting off intense battles with several other Palestinian terrorists in the area, foreign media reported. Security officials said some of the Egyptian soldiers were wounded, but there were no immediate reports about how many were hurt and to what degree. No Israelis were wounded in the attack. Meanwhile, Egyptian security officials said a border guard and two Central Security force officers were killed on Thursday in an Israeli raid along Egypt's border with Israel, Reuters reported. The three were reportedly killed by Israeli forces pursuing terrorists between Egypt's Red Sea resort of Taba in Sinai and the Israeli city of Eilat, a security official told Reuters. Three other security officials were said to be injured by gunfire and were being transferred to a hospital in the port town of El-Arish in Sinai. Egypt has been working to rein in terrorists operating in Sinai in recent weeks, and on Thursday Egyptian army chief General Sami Annan and other top military officials toured the area along the border with Israel. Annan called for an urgent meeting of top Egyptian military commanders, who are expected to meet Saturday with Bedouin tribal leaders in Sinai to discuss police and military operations against Islamic extremists in the peninsula, Israel Radio reported. According to the report, Egyptian officials said the Israeli air strikes on Gaza had succeeded in halting most of the arms smuggling talking place in tunnels beneath the Egypt-Gaza border. Egyptian authorities have been working to restore order in Sinai, which has become a chaotic staging ground for terrorist activities since the Egyptian revolution earlier this year, including five attacks against the pipeline delivering gas to Israel and Jordan. Egypt has beefed up its military presence in the northern Sinai Peninsula, with security forces guarding sensitive locations, including police stations and banks. According to reports, 22 terror suspects have been arrested in recent days, and security forces have confiscated large weapons caches, ammunition and explosive devices, including suicide bomber belts. An Egyptian security official told the Arabic-language newspaper A-Sharq Al-Awsat on Friday that the Egyptian and Israeli armies are coordinating their efforts, and added that, despite the tension since Mubarak's ouster, he does not envision another round of armed conflict between the two countries. Egypt on Sunday sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers into the Sinai Peninsula in an attempt to rout al-Qaida terrorist cells and hostile Bedouin groups operating in the area. The move, code-named "Operation Eagle," utilized some 200 armored personnel carriers. Just hours after the attacks in southern Israel on Thursday that included gunfire, mortars and anti-tank rockets, Israel launched air strikes against several targets in the Gaza Strip, striking back at the PRC and killing at least five members of the group. Kamal Nairab, head of the PRC in Gaza, was killed along with at least four other senior officials of the group. Two other Rafah-based terrorists considered senior members of the PRC were also killed. Over the years, the PRC has been involved in numerous terror attacks against Israel, including the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the infiltration of suicide bombers into Israel, attacks against IDF forces along the border and the firing of rockets into Israeli cities.
The attack occured not far from where a series of coordinated attacks on Thursday left eight Israelis dead and more than 30 wounded,.
According to reports, the suicide bomber ran toward Egyptian soldiers near the Philadelphi Crossing and detonated his explosives. Egyptian security officials said they believed the attacker to be a member of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), a Gaza-based terrorist organization that Israel has said was behind Thursday's attacks.
Egyptians battling Palestinian terrorists near Israel border
Suicide bomber attacks Egyptian soldiers near Philadelphi Corridor crossing and detonated his explosives • Egyptian army chief General Sami Annan and other top military officials to meet with Bedouin tribal leaders to discuss Sinai security.
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