Egypt TV Says 5 Egyptians Killed in Israel Border Clash

Egyptian state television said on Friday two unknown Egyptians were killed along with three policemen by Israeli gunfire the previous day when Israeli forces were tracking down militants behind deadly attacks in their territory.

Security officials had said that three policemen were killed on Thursday when an Israeli Apache gunship fired a rocket at militants it was pursuing along the border, after attacks on Israeli buses and cars killed eight.

An Israeli military commander said that, after the attacks in Israel, Israeli and Egyptian security forces killed four of the militants on the Egyptian side of the border, which north and south Sinai officials denied.

The state-owned Nile Television reported on Friday that two "unidentified Egyptians" died in the same incident that killed the three policemen.

It was not immediately clear whether the unidentified men were assailants. Police and military dead are usually identified within hours and there were likely no bystanders in the remote border area where the incident occurred.

The military has said it is combing the border with Israel and beefing up security after Thursday's attack north of the Israeli town of Eilat, in which militants attacked two buses, a military vehicle and a civilian car.

Egypt's military, which launched a sweeping operation in Sinai to uproot Islamist militants, is facing increased pressure to secure the restive peninsula.