CAIRO, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian authorities on Wednesday arrested 37 Africans who were trying to cross into Israel illegally via Egyptian borders in central Sinai, the official MENA news agency reported.

    Egyptian border guards detained the illegal immigrants, including four children and 12 women, when they were found approaching the Egyptian border line with Israel in Sinai peninsula, said the report.

    The infiltrators confessed that they paid money to human traffickers, who promised to help them cross the borders for jobs in Israel.

    Egypt's eastern border in Sinai peninsula is the scene of frequent attempts by illegal immigrants of different nationalities to cross into Israel for work or smuggling.

    In the past months, Egyptian border guards have detained hundreds of infiltrators and even shot dead several of them in a bid to stop illegal immigrants to sneak into Israel via Sinai.

    Meanwhile, at least two Egyptian policemen were also killed during shootouts against human traffickers on the border with Israel.