6 August 2012 Last updated at 01:47 ET
The border crossing between Israel and Egypt has been shut indefinitely
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The Israeli army says it has found the bodies of five gunmen who attacked a checkpoint on the border with Egypt, killing 16 Egyptian policemen.
The heavily armed attackers had captured a border post at Rafah, commandeered cars and tried to smash their way over the border, Israel said.
One vehicle apparently blew up at the North Sinai crossing, while the other was destroyed by the Israeli air force.
Islamist militants have been blamed by both sides for carrying out the attack.
Egypt's state news agency quoted a top security official who said the gunmen were "jihadists" who had infiltrated from the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army had been prepared for such an incident and had stepped up patrols along the border with Gaza, Israel Defence Forces spokesman Brig-Gen Yoav Mordechai was quoted as saying.
The Egyptian army surrounded the town of Rafah on the Egyptian side of the border in the early hours of Monday, in an attempt to stop the militants from escaping, Egyptian website al-Ahram reported.
Egypt's President Mohammed Mursi held an emergency meeting with military and security officials after the attack.
In a televised statement, he condemned what he called a "cowardly" attack and said the security forces would "take full control" of Sinai.
Continue reading the main story
The Israeli army says it has found the bodies of five gunmen who attacked a checkpoint on the border with Egypt, killing 16 Egyptian policemen.
The heavily armed attackers had captured a border post at Rafah, commandeered cars and tried to smash their way over the border, Israel said.
One vehicle apparently blew up at the North Sinai crossing, while the other was destroyed by the Israeli air force.
Islamist militants have been blamed by both sides for carrying out the attack.
Egypt's state news agency quoted a top security official who said the gunmen were "jihadists" who had infiltrated from the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army had been prepared for such an incident and had stepped up patrols along the border with Gaza, Israel Defence Forces spokesman Brig-Gen Yoav Mordechai was quoted as saying.
The Egyptian army surrounded the town of Rafah on the Egyptian side of the border in the early hours of Monday, in an attempt to stop the militants from escaping, Egyptian website al-Ahram reported.
Egypt's President Mohammed Mursi held an emergency meeting with military and security officials after the attack.
In a televised statement, he condemned what he called a "cowardly" attack and said the security forces would "take full control" of Sinai.