Three Israeli soldiers and an Egyptian security officer were killed near the countries' border on Saturday (June 3), Israel and Egypt said, in an incident whose details remained unclear but which the countries said they were investigating jointly.

The Israeli military said an Egyptian policeman shot and killed two of its soldiers while they secured a military post at the Egyptian border early on Saturday, after forces successfully thwarted a large smuggling attempt overnight.

It said the Egyptian officer and a third Israeli soldier were killed hours later in a confrontation inside Israeli territory.

Egypt's military said the three Israeli and one Egyptian security personnel had been killed in an exchange of fire as the Egyptian security officer chased smugglers across the frontier.

Egyptian and Israeli officials are probing the circumstances of the incident in full cooperation, the Israeli military and two Egyptian security sources said.

The Israeli military said it was unclear how the Egyptian officer crossed the border fence and soldiers were searching the area to rule out additional assailants.

An Israeli military spokesperson said two soldiers had been shot while on duty in a relatively desolate area along the desert border with Egypt on Saturday morning. Their bodies were found later, after they failed to answer the radio, the spokesperson added.

Once the military understood the incident was ongoing, soldiers identified an infiltration into Israeli territory, leading to a gunfight in which the assailant, an Egyptian policeman, and the third Israeli soldier, were killed, it said.

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