5 missiles seized in Egypt's north Sinai

Egyptian security forces have seized on Saturday a vehicle loaded with five Grad missiles in North Sinai's city of Rafah which borders the Gaza Strip, before a security officer was killed in the area. "The car was carrying five Grad rockets, a number of grenades, land mines and machine guns," a source told Xinhua. Border security forces at a checkpoint suspected two vehicles passing through the mountain area in North Sinai and shot at both. They managed to seize one as the other escaped, said the source. Over the past two years, Egyptian authorities have confiscated large amounts of smuggled weapons and explosives in the Sinai Peninsula, as the lack of tight security after the 2011 unrest that toppled the former regime led to a rise in weapon smuggling and terrorist activities in the area. In August 2012, at least 13 Egyptian border guards in Sinai were killed in an armed attack near the country's borders with Israel. Later on Saturday, the North Sinai Security Inspector, Mohamed Hani, was shot dead by a terrorists group, an intelligence source told Xinhua. "In a truck without plate numbers, some masked gunmen pursued Hani's car, shot him and fled the scene," the source said, quoting the inspector's driver.