JERUSALEM — Three Israeli soldiers have been killed and others wounded by a gunman near the border with Egypt, the army says.

A male and a female soldier were found dead at an army post after failing to answer calls early on Saturday.

A third Israeli soldier and the alleged attacker — identified as an Egyptian policeman — were later killed during a search operation.

The incident happened just hours after a drug smuggling operation had been thwarted at the border.

An Israeli military spokesman, Col. Richard Hecht, said drugs worth 1.6 million shekels ($400,000) had been seized after someone used a ladder to cross the fence.

He said that this was assumed to be connected to the later shootings.

An army statement said: “An investigation is conducted in full cooperation with the Egyptian army.”

Later, both the Israeli and the Egyptian armies confirmed that the dead assailant was a member of Egypt’s security forces. — BBC