3 Israeli soldiers, Egyptian officer killed in gunbattle at the border

JERUSALEM (AP) — A gunbattle along Israel’s southern border with Egypt left three Israeli soldiers and an Egyptian officer dead. That’s according to both the Israeli and Egyptian militaries Saturday. It was a rare instance of deadly violence along the frontier. The Israeli army said the officer was in Israeli territory when he killed two soldiers during a drug-smuggling attempt. Their bodies were found hours later. The army said the attacker was killed in another shootout in which a third Israeli solider was also killed. Troops were searching for other possible assailants. Israel and Egypt signed a peace agreement in 1979 and maintain close security ties. Fighting along their shared border is rare.