Egyptian Soldiers Die Destroying Hamas Smuggling Tunnel From Gaza

Egyptian army officers among the dead when Hamas-run smuggling tunnel from Gaza collapses during demolition operation.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

Two Egyptian army officers and a soldier were killed Saturday when a smuggling tunnel connecting Sinai and the Gaza Strip collapsed as they were preparing to blow it up, officials said.

One soldier was injured and another missing in the collapse, which happened as troops were planting explosives.

The army says it has destroyed more than 1,600 such tunnels – most of them since the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi last year – which the Hamas terrorist group uses to smuggle in arms, equipment and money.

Cairo has poured troops into the Sinai peninsula to counter an Islamist insurgency since Morsi’s overthrow that has killed scores of policemen and soldiers. The current post-Morsi government, led by President Sisi, has accused Hamas of aiding the insurgents in part via its tunnels.

Israel went to war with Hamas and other Gaza terrorist groups this summer, in part with the objective of destroying another network of tunnels which infiltrated into the Jewish state’s borders which terrorists had planned to use to carry out attacks against IDF and civilian targets.

 

View original Arutz Sheva publication at: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186255#.VEKYnMmLUYA