Bedouin free 25 Egyptian police

Bedouin tribesmen have released 25 Egyptian policemen, hours after seizing them at gunpoint near Israel's border.

The police were released in a mountainous area in the Sinai Peninsula, security sources said.

Earlier, tribesmen in a number of trucks had stopped a police vehicle, forced the officers out and taken them to an undisclosed location.

The group was reportedly angered by a police shooting on Monday that killed a suspected Bedouin smuggler in the area.

Egypt's government has accused elements within the Bedouin community of links to militants involved in bomb attacks.

Authorities in Cairo say the tribesmen operate a wide network of smuggling operations in the area.

The smugglers are accused of taking weapons and other goods into the Gaza Strip, as well as assisting African migrants across the border into Israel.