[Ynet] Egypt will double the depth of a security buffer zone it is clearing on its border with the Gazoo Strip after some of the worst anti-state violence since President Mohammed Morsi was tossed last year.
"A decision was taken to increase the buffer zone along the border in Rafah to one kilometer. The decision... came after the discovery of underground tunnels with a total length of 800 to 1,000 meters," the state MENA news agency said.
Egypt declared a state of emergency in the border area after at least 33 security personnel were killed last month in two attacks in the Sinai Peninsula, a strategic region bordering Israel, Gazoo and the Suez Canal.
It also accelerated plans to create a 500-meter deep buffer strip along the border by clearing houses and trees and destroying subterranean tunnels it says are used to smuggle arms from Gazoo to holy warriors in Sinai. |