Esmalia, Egypt: A group of Bedouin on the Sinai Peninsula attacked seven trucks on their way to Israel after Egyptian police searched Bedouin homes earlier in the day for fugitives, a security source said.
A truck driver and his assistant were wounded, the source added.
"Tens of armed men driving small trucks and SUV vehicles blocked the international highway near the Awja crossing (into Israel) and shot randomly at seven trucks that were on their way to Israel," the source said.
Witnesses said police searching for fugitives had surrounded Bedouin homes and opened random fire at some of the buildings earlier on Monday, but that no one was injured.
The fugitives had been sentenced to prison but were freed by Bedouin in February in an armed attack on the police car that was carrying them. Two policemen were killed in the attack.
Relations between Bedouin and police grew strained after police detained thousands of young men in response to a series of bombings at tourist resorts in south Sinai in 2005 and 2006.
Relations have since worsened, with Egypt accusing the Bedouin of involvement in the smuggling of weapons and goods from Sinai to both Israel and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
Bedouin complain of neglect by the Egyptian government and say tough economic times have led more of their kin to resort to smuggling and other criminal activities.
Egypt is building construction barriers along its border with Gaza in an attempt to stop the smuggling.
