Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
IDF troops fire at drug smugglers damaging Egyptian border fence
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
File: Israeli soldiers and rescue forces seen at Mount Harif military base in the southern Negev desert, close to the border with Egypt, on June 3, 2023. (Dudu Greenspan/Flash90)
Israeli troops opened fire at drug smugglers on the Egyptian border earlier today, the military says.
The IDF says that soldiers operating surveillance cameras spotted a number of suspects on the border fence, in the Mount Harif region.
Troops of the Border Defense Corps’ Bardelas Battalion operating in the area opened fire at the suspects, hitting several of them, the IDF says.
A military source says the suspects were damaging the border fence amid the drug smuggling attempt.
Drug smuggling incidents on the Egyptian border are frequent, and at times include shooting by the smugglers at Israeli forces.
