Last update - 00:00 19/08/2007
Egyptian police forces find explosives cache near border with Gaza
By The Associated Press
Egyptian security forces found 500 kilograms of TNT explosives Sunday hidden in sacks near the country's border with the Gaza Strip, a police officer said.
Police discovered the cache covered with bushes in northern Sinai after receiving a tip from local Bedouins, an official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
He said Bedouins employed by local authorities then led police to the explosives stash near el-Toayel village, some 25 kilometers west of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
Smuggling weapons, cigarettes, asylum and employment-seekers across the border into Gaza or Israel has long provided a livelihood for some Bedouin in the Sinai Peninsula.
Israel has repeatedly accused Egypt of not doing enough to stop weapons smuggling into Gaza, particularly through tunnels. Cairo recently promised to increase measures aimed at halting smuggling.
Illicit weapons activity in the remote Sinai Peninsula is also a cause of concern for Egypt's government. Islamic militants have carried out three major bomb attacks in Sinai since October 2004.
Bombing attacks in the resorts of Sharm el-Sheik, Taba and Dahab killed 125 people in recent years.