Blasts heard near Israel-Egypt border

Several explosions were heard Thursday night in the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat near the Egyptian border, a police spokesman said, adding that the source of the blasts was not known. "Explosions were heard. Search operations have been launched but we have been unable so far to determine the origin of the blasts, be it in Eilat or outside the town," spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. He said no casualties or damage were reported as a result of the explosions. Israeli forces "are trying to verify if the blasts were caused by Israeli jets that broke the sound barrier" over Eilat, or something else, Rosenfeld added. The incident comes as Israel closely monitored developments in Egypt where the military on Wednesday ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and named a top judge, Adly Mansour, as caretaker president. Eilat in southern Israel has been the target of attacks in the past. In April, the town was struck by a rocket fired from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. The attack caused no casualties but was claimed by a Salafist group of radical Muslims based in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip known as the Mujahedeen Shura Council. Source: AFP