ISMAILIA, Egypt, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Egyptian police shot and critically wounded a Turkish man on Thursday as he tried to cross a barbed wire fence into Israel, Egyptian security sources said.

They said police shot the 35-year-old man in the head. At least six other people travelling with him and believed to be members of his family succeeded in crossing the border.

The shooting came three days after Egyptian police shot and wounded two Turkish teenagers who, along with their father, were trying to cross the border to look for work in Israel.

Egypt's Sinai peninsula is the main conduit for smugglers trying to take migrants -- mainly Africans including refugees from Sudan's Darfur region -- into Israel for work or asylum.

Egyptian guards have opened fire at many of the migrants and have killed at least one Sudanese and one Eritrean this year as the numbers of those trying to enter Israel have swelled.

AlertNet news is provided by