French
German
Hebrew
Noruegan
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Polish
Portuguese
Palestinian smuggler walks inside tunnel beneath Egyptian-Gaza border in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip September 2012 (Photo: Reuters)
The Egyptian army has destroyed eight more tunnels used for smuggling along the border with the Palestinian Gaza Strip, an army spokesman said on Sunday.
Almost 1,300 tunnels have been destroyed since January 2011.
The army seized weapons including five remote detonators, a defensive grenade F1 and a machinegun, army spokesman Ahmed Ali added.
Few of the hundreds of tunnels running under the border, which the authorities say are used by militants in Egypt and the Palestinian enclave to smuggle weapons and insurgents, are still open.
The demolition campaign has sparked alarm in the Gaza Strip which heavily relies on the underground tunnel network to smuggle goods, including building material and fuel, into the area which has been blockaded by Israel since 2006.
Egypt says the closing down of the tunnels, which started over a year ago and a half, is part of a crackdown against Islamist militants in the border Sinai Peninsula who authorities say have links to extremists in the Palestinian territory.
