IDF dismantles explosives on Egyptian border

A powerful explosive device was uncovered by IDF soldiers along the Egyptian border during a routine anti-smuggling operation Tuesday.

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According to the IDF Spokesman’s office, an infiltrator was spotted near dawn Tuesday and troops were sent to intercept him. Seeing the soldiers, the man ran back toward Egypt, throwing a black bag to the side as he fled.

Major M., a company commander in a special operations unit of the engineering corps, said Tuesday that sappers arrived on the scene within minutes and determined that the device was either an anti-personnel mine or an explosives belt. “Remote control robots, operated by the soldiers on the scene, exploded the device in a controlled manner,” he said, adding that the explosives were rigged so that they could be triggered by cell phone.

The device was armed with several kilograms of explosives and metal fragments. “It could have been used on a bus or in a village, and it certainly would have inflicted a lot of damage,” the major said.

The bag was found along the Egyptian border some five miles south of the Gaza Strip. Major M. confirmed that the area is part of a stretch of desert frequently used for drug smuggling but that the two can, at times, go hand in hand.

He could not comment on whether the smugglers had set out from Gaza or Sinai.