The IDF's Twitter site is reporting that the lethal attack
a short time ago on an Egyptian police or army base on the border with Israel
included an attempt by the terrorists - as yet, not identified by group or
classification - to commandeer an Egyptian vehicle and drive it into Israel.
The IDF is tweating that: "1 vehicle exploded near
Kerem Shalom Crossing, 2nd targeted by #Israel Air Force. No Israelis hurt,
forces scanning area." Ynet says it knows more. It's reporting that the terrorist gunmen, evidently
Islamists of some stripe, seized two armored vehicles from the Egyptians,
including on-board RPG missiles and explosives. The first of the two vehicles
"blew up" near the Kerem
Shalom border crossing with Israel (more or less where the borders of
Egypt, the Gaza Strip and Israel meet) while the other one managed to
infiltrate into Israel. The terrorist gunmen managed to fire tank shells toward
Israeli forces stationed at the border, but aircraft of the Israel Air Force
struck and neutralized the armored vehicle. There are no casualties among IDF
forces.
"At least 13 Egyptian soldiers were killed and 10 were wounded in an ambush by gunmen at a security checkpoint in Rafah, a city in North Sinai near the border to the Gaza Strip. The gunmen were driving four-wheeled off road vehicles when they attacked the troops, witnesses said. Egyptian state television reported the attackers were jihadists. Earlier, security sources said that 15 Egyptian troops were killed, however they later revised the casualty toll."
Earlier this afternoon, around 3 pm, we received first reports of
a barrage of mortars crashing down on the Kerem Shalom area. It now appears
that was part of the terror attack on the Egyptian side.
There will surely be more details soon, as well some probing
analysis into the dramatic post-Mubarak slide into chaos of the Sinai region.
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