Gunmen kill Egyptian officer near Israel border

CAIRO, July 7 (Reuters) - Masked gunmen shot dead an Egyptian police officer on Monday when he was trying to stop them from helping African migrants cross the border into Israel, a security official said.

The official said a police patrol spotted eight gunmen with African migrants near the border. The gunmen opened fire and fled with the migrants into Sinai, the official added.

The officer, lieutenant Mohamed el-Qersh, was hit in the abdomen, the state-run MENA news agency reported, becoming the first Egyptian police officer to die in 2008 while preventing migrants from crossing into Israel.

In December, smugglers shot dead an Egyptian policemen near the border in a similar incident.

Egyptian policemen killed 16 African migrants at the border this year and arrested scores more. Amnesty International says thousands of migrants try to cross into the Jewish state from Egypt each year, with numbers rising since 2007.

The migrants are seeking work or asylum away from conflict at home and harsh living conditions in Egypt, where activists say African migrants face economic marginalisation and racism. (Reporting by Yusri Mohamed, writing by Alaa Shahine)