A further 11 migrants were wounded by what the security sources said were gunmen.
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The border forces fired warning shots while moving to arrest the trespassers, who shot at the Egyptian forces, injuring one military conscript.
Drug dealers also often use the border for smuggling purposes, with shootouts between Egyptian border guards and armed groups that have previously resulted in the deaths of Egyptian security personnel.
Five Sudanese migrants were shot dead on Monday in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, according to a local security source.
Eleven others were wounded by gunshots as they tried to enter Israel, they said.
Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula is a transit hub for African migrants hoping to cross into Israel – with which Sinai shares a border – in search of work.
Last week, 15 Sudanese were killed and eight wounded while trying to illegally cross into Israel.
“We can confirm (that) Egyptian police killed 16 Sudanese people as they tried to go to Israel and we will (follow up with) Egyptian authorities investigating this case”, the minister, Ibrahim Ghandour, told Sudan’s parliament on Monday.
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The northern part of the peninsula has been the stronghold of a jihadist insurgency since the military overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
