Egyptian girl shot to death near Israeli border
Cousin of 12-year-old girl killed in village of Umm Ammad said gunfire 'appeared to have come from Israeli side'
A teenage Bedouin girl was fatally shot on Thursday in the Sinai Peninsula near Egypt's border with Israel, an Egyptian security official and medics said.
The girl, identified as 12-year-old Samah Nayyef Abu Garad, was hit in the head by a bullet, eyewitnesses and the security official said.
''She was shot by a stray bullet from the other side of the border (Israel), due to the ongoing fighting today between the Palestinians and Israelis,'' the Egyptian security official said.
A witness said Abu Garad was shot while standing near her home in the village of Umm Ammad, about 400 meters from the Israeli-controlled border point of Kerem Shalom and close to the Gaza Strip.
Imad Kharboush, head of the emergency unit at el-Arish hospital, said Abu Garad was brought in a critical condition to the hospital and died a few minutes later of brain damage.
A cousin of the girl, tribal leader Sheikh Darwish Abu Garrad, said the gunfire appeared to have come "from the direction of Israel."
In early January, an Egyptian Bedouin man fell dead from a bullet while standing in front of his house at el-Dahniya village, just 300 meters from the Israeli border. Witnesses at the time had said he was shot by Israeli border guards.
AP and Reuters contributed to this report
