Egyptian security forces shoot dead five Sudanese migrants near Israel border

Egyptian border forces shot dead five Sudanese migrants trying to cross from Egypt's turbulent North Sinai region into Israel on Monday, the military said in a statement.

"Law enforcement tasked with protecting the border spotted at dawn today a group of Africans trying to sneak though the international border in cooperation with criminal elements involved in illegal immigration," the military said.

"The force fired several warning shots and moved to arrest those trespassers who shot at the security force. The force engaged them, killing five, injuring six and arresting five more. All of them were Sudanese."

On Nov. 15, Egyptian police found the bodies of 15 African migrants who appeared to have been shot dead in the same region, security sources said at the time.

They said another eight migrants had been wounded and it was not clear who had attacked the migrants, as at times they get caugt in crossfire between security forces and people smugglers, or which countries they had originated from.