Six smuggling tunnels have been discovered in areas close to the country's border with Gaza, Egyptian security sources said today. The tunnels were located in separate areas, a security official told Al-Masry Al-Youm, at the border region of Salah Eddin. A campaign to uncover the tunnels, launched Monday night, led to the discovery. No smugglers were apprehended, but authorities confiscated goods and commodities ready for transfer to Gaza, the official said. Since the start of 2010, a total of 562 tunnels have been found. Another 1000 are thought to have been dug in past years along the 13-kilometer border. The tunnels are believed to be a lucrative trade, with profits thought to be in the hundreds of millions for Palestinian diggers, transporters, and mediators. The depth of the tunnels usually ranges around 25 meters, with lengths of 600 meters. The tunnels link open areas in the Gaza Strip to farms and houses on the Egyptian side. According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, 156 Palestinians have died inside the tunnels either due to tunnel collapses or Egyptian operations to shut the tunnels down. Egypt has recently built a steel barrier covering a large parts of its border with Gaza, with technical and financial assistance from the US. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
