Egyptian police shot dead a man from sub-Saharan Africa on Friday as he tried to cross the border illegally into Israel, a security official said.
“An Egyptian patrol spotted a group of migrants as they were trying to infiltrate Israel south of the Rafah terminal,” he said. “When the police asked them to stop, they refused and tried to flee into Israel.
“Police had to fire on the African migrants, which led to the death of one of them,” he said, without identifying the victim.
He said two Sudanese were arrested and that the rest of the group was able to get away.
Friday’s death takes to 30 the number of migrants killed on the Egypt-Israel border since the beginning of the year — 25 of them by Egyptian police.
Cairo has rejected strong criticism from human rights groups of its policy of using potentially lethal force against migrants along its 250-kilometre (150-mile) border with Israel.
The Sinai desert border has become a major trafficking route for African migrants seeking jobs and for eastern European women headed for the sex trade.