Last update - 00:00 08/03/2008
Egyptian police shoot Sudanese man trying to enter Israel illegally
By News Agencies
Egyptian authorities shot and critically wounded a Darfurian man trying to infiltrate Israel in search of work, and detained 14 other Africans in a number of incidents Saturday, a security and hospital officials said.
In one incident, seven kilometers south of the Rafah border crossing, Egyptian border guards opened fire at a group of two Sudanese men, a Sudanese woman and two Eritreans after they ignored shots fired into the air, said a security official, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity.
Zakariya Moussa Abdullah, 24, was shot in the back and remains in critical condition at the Egyptian El-Arish hospital, following an operation to remove the bullet, said Imad Kharboush, head of the North Sinai's emergency unit.
Abdullah told reporters from his hospital bed that he had run in fear upon first hearing the guards' warning shots, adding that he had hoped to find work in Israel.
The Sudanese had paid several thousands dollars to Egyptian traffickers to get them across the Rafah border, said the security official.
In a separate incident, seven Africans, including people from Darfur, Eritrea, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, were apprehended while trying to enter Israeli illegally near the southern al-Awja crossing.
Dozens of African migrants have been detained over the past year as they have tried to cross into Israel from the Sinai desert, and at least six have been killed this year by Egyptian border guards.
The Africans began trickling into Israel in 2005, after neighboring Egypt quashed a demonstration by a group of Sudanese refugees and in recent months, the number has surged as word spread of job opportunities in Israel.
Israel last year asked Egypt to do more to stem the tide.
More than 7,000 African migrants have entered Israel illegally in just over a year, including at least 2,000 since January, according to United Nations officials in Israel.
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