Israeli soldier slightly injured by smugglers' vehicle on border with Egypt: Media

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - An Israeli army officer was slightly hurt after being hit by a vehicle belonging to drug smugglers on the Israeli-Egyptian border, Israeli media reported late Monday.

"An officer was slightly injured after being run over by a Razor ATV on the Israeli-Egyptian border while the Israeli army was trying to stop drug smugglers,” the Israel Hayom newspaper reported.

It added that Israeli soldiers opened fire on the vehicle, which managed to escape.

In a brief statement, the army said its soldiers at the Egyptian-Israeli border identified a vehicle speeding towards them and opened fire on it.

The statement added that the army is conducting a search operation in the area following the incident.

While the Egyptian authorities have not yet commented on the incident, the state-affiliated Al-Qahera News channel quoted an official source that said the incident was related to an exchange of fire between the Israeli forces and a group of smugglers in the Negev desert in southern Israel.

The Egyptian-Israeli border has been the site of similar incidents occasionally, under which clashes are reported either between the Israeli army and smugglers or between Egyptian forces and smugglers.

In January, the Egyptian army said one person was killed and six smugglers were arrested in foiling a drug smuggling attempt south of the El-Ouga border crossing with Israel after a firefight.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar