Egypt-Israel border. Photo: wiki commons.

Human traffickers shot and killed an Egyptian officer on Thursday near the El-Arish border with Israel, Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported, citing security sources.

The Egyptian officer, Islam Ahmad Ramadan Saed, 21, stationed south of the Kerem Shalom crossing, confronted the traffickers, who were trying to smuggle African migrants into Israel, and they shot him in the chest, killing him instantly, Egyptian security officials told Ma’an. The smugglers and the migrants fled after the shooting, the officials said.

On Wednesday, Egyptian authorities detained 16 Africans – nine Ethiopians, including two women, three Eritreans and four Sudanese – trying to enter Israel in the same area. They told police they paid smugglers in Rafah $2,000 each for help to get across the border, security officials told Ma’an.