EL ARISH, Egypt, June 14 (Reuters) - Ninety-nine Palestinian policemen loyal to the Fatah movement fled to Egypt on Thursday as the rival Hamas group took control of most of the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian security official said.

The policemen were border guards at Rafah and entered Egypt through the Rafah border post, the main crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, said the official, who asked not to be named.

For the moment they are in the custody of Egyptian security forces, he added. Forty policemen fled from Gaza to Egypt on Wednesday but the Egyptian authorities sent back back to Gaza later in the day.

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