Clash: Israeli soldier killed on Egypt border

Army said troops came under fire from gunmen who sneaked across the border.

ISRAEL/ HAR HARIF: An Israeli soldier and three militants who infiltrated from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula were killed in a clash along the border on Friday, the army said.

It said troops came under fire from gunmen who sneaked across the border, sparking a firefight which killed the three attackers. An Israeli soldier was also killed and a second moderately injured, a military spokeswoman said, confirming a report from Egyptian security sources in the Sinai.

“I can confirm he is dead,” she said, without confirming Egyptian reports that one of the attackers had blown himself up. An Israeli military statement named the soldier as gunner Natanel Yahalomi, 20, and said he was “killed by terrorist gunfire.” He was promoted posthumously to the rank of corporal.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2012.