Egypt police kill migrant
2009-07-31 13:22
El-Arish - Egyptian police shot and killed an African migrant as he tried to enter Israel illegally on Friday, a security official told AFP.
The victim, who was not immediately identified, was hit in the chest and in the leg, the official said.
Police spotted the man near the Rafah border crossing and ordered him to stop but he ran for the porous 250-kilometre (155 miles) frontier with Israel forcing police to open fire, the official said.
"The policemen had to open fire and he died on the spot," he said, adding that an Eritrean man who was with the victim was arrested.
Egyptian security forces have shot dead seven migrants along the border with Israel since the start of the year.
Overnight on Thursday the Egyptian security forces detained for questioning 14 Eritrean and Ethiopian migrants spotted near the Rafah terminal.
Last year Egyptian police killed at least 28 sub-Saharan migrants near the border with Israel, which has become a major transit route for migrants, asylum-seekers and drug smugglers.
Egypt's policy of shooting migrants has generated harsh criticism from human rights groups. The migrants say they try to leave Egypt because of poverty and racism.