Tel Aviv [Israel], June 4: Three Israeli soldiers were killed on their country's border with Egypt on Saturday, according to the military.
The attacker, suspected to be an Egyptian police officer, was shot dead after a search, the Israeli army said as troops continued to comb the area.
Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht told journalists that a major drug smuggling operation on the border with Egypt had been foiled during the night. However, it was still unclear whether this was directly linked to the fatal incident.
Two soldiers, a man and a woman, had been on guard at a secluded spot on the border, he said.
They were probably shot early in the morning, but the army only realized when they did not report back, Hecht said.
Their bodies were later found and the search for the perpetrator began. Afterwards, there was an exchange of fire with the suspected perpetrator, who was armed with a Kalashnikov. A third Israeli soldier was killed in the exchange.
The Egyptian army said the policeman had been chasing drug smugglers.
He had crossed the border and then the fatal shots were fired.
According to Egyptian reports, two other people were also injured. Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979, but the shared border has been the scene of a number of deadly attacks by militant groups over the years.
Source: Qatar Tribune