Egypt is to build 23 high-tech cement security towers with bullet-proof glass along its border with the Gaza Strip in the divided town of Rafah, a Cairo daily reported Wednesday.
The towers would "allow guards watch all directions and deal with any danger at Egypt's border," the independent al-Shorouk newspaper reported, citing anonymous security sources, DPA reported.
Trucks have been transferring large quantities of special cement to the borders for two weeks, according to the report.
The report comes one week after an Egyptian guard on the country's border with the Gaza Strip was fatally shot amid clashes that began when Palestinian demonstrators threw rocks at Egyptian troops and attempted to scale the border fence near the Salah al-Din gate.
Ahmed Shaaban, 21, died of bullet wounds sustained when shots were fired on both sides of the border, police said. Palestinian medics said at least 10 Palestinians had been injured in the clashes.
Al-Shorouk reported that an additional 10 towers would be built along the Egypt-Gaza border outside of Rafah.
Egypt has repeatedly defended increased security at the border as necessary for maintaining its sovereignty and national security, in the face of domestic and regional criticism.
Earlier this week, opposition activists held banners accusing Egypt of siding with Israel and the United States against the Palestinians at a small demonstration in central Cairo to protest Egypt's reported construction of an underground barrier to stop smuggling across the border.