An armed forces officer was killed and another officer was injured Friday afternoon in the collapse of an illegal tunnel at the Rafah borders between Egypt and Gaza, reported Reuters’ Aswat Masriya.

A military source told Aswat Masriya that security forces were inspecting a smuggling illegal tunnel that had been discovered recently on the borders between Egypt and Gaza when a landslide happened suddenly and the tunnel collapsed. 

The source added an army officer was killed and another officer was injured. 

Last Tuesday Egyptian armed forces announced the discovery and destruction of 30 illegal tunnels on the borders between Egypt and Gaza. 

The network of smuggling tunnels connects the desert region with the Palestinian Gaza Strip, controlled by the Islamist Hamas movement.

Since the Egyptian army  launched iys military operation in Sinai against Islamist militants not less 1700 smuggling illegal tunnels between Rafah and Gaza have been destroyed. 

The Egyptian armed forces are currently establishing a 1km buffer zone along Sinai's border with Gaza in an effort to isolaye insutgents..