African migrant shot to death on Egypt border

Shot to death: An Egyptian security official says border guards shot and killed one African migrant as he tried to cross the border into Israel.

The official says the migrant, whose nationality was not known, refused to surrender after guards fired warning shots to stop him early Friday.

The security official said an Eritrean companion traveling with the shot migrant was arrested at the same location near the border town of Rafah, while six Ethiopians and seven other Eritreans were detained nearby, also trying to cross into Israel on Friday.

According to the official, two of the detained Ethiopians told investigators they waited for 20 days in the Sinai desert with little access to water before their smugglers decided to take them across the Egypt-Israeli border. Each had paid the Sinai smugglers $500.

An 18-year old Eritrean detainee told the investigators he had already been jailed before for two years for attempting to cross illegally into Israel, but still came back.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Hundreds of Africans seeking political asylum and jobs try to cross into Israel every year, often with the help of Bedouin traffickers.

The London-based Amnesty International said at least 26 migrants were killed along the border between mid-2007 and August 2008.

The 250-kilometer (160 miles) Egypt-Israel border has become an increasingly popular crossing point for migrants and drug smugglers. In May, an Egyptian soldier was killed in a shootout with smugglers in the northern Sinai Peninsula. According to Egyptian officials, the shooters involved in the incident were attempting to bring illegal migrants into Israel.

Ynet contributed to the story