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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Egyptian patrol ambushed by smugglers near Gaza
2009-11-12
[Ma'an] Gunmen ambushed an Egyptian patrol shortly after it seized contraband cement intended for Gaza, leaving one officer and five soldiers wounded, The Associated Press reported on Wednesday.

The security source mentioned by The Associated Press said Egyptian security forces were searching for a smugglers warehouse in the mountainous area in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, south of the Rafah border crossing.

The security forces, travelling in a convoy of two armored vehicles and almost twelve police vans, seized 200 tons of cement intended by smugglers to be transported into Gaza via a network of tunnels, according to a local security official.
Posted by:Fred

#5  How else are they going to build their four-lane-highway tunnel?

But seriously, the Egyptians are going to lose control of the Sinai at this rate. You can't let this sort of systemic organized, regimented corruption go on for long without it generating its own quasi-governmental organization to rival the nominal authorities.
Posted by: Mitch H.   2009-11-12 17:04  

#4  To build more, deeper, bigger tunnels, of course with truck sized elevators at each end.

Think of it as an U with hidden entrances at each end.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2009-11-12 13:54  

#3  Might not want the extent of their building activities to be known.
Posted by: Sluque the Rasher of Bacon4421   2009-11-12 12:25  

#2  And why would anybody need to smuggle cement? I somehow doubt that it's on the "banned" list.
Posted by: mojo   2009-11-12 11:03  

#1  I'm impressed. Never would have guessed the tunnels were so good they could move bulk goods like hundreds of tons of cement through them. That has to be some expensive cement by the time it's delivered. What kind of construction can support that investment?
Posted by: Glenmore   2009-11-12 09:23  

00:01