CAIRO — The U.S. military has begun testing tunnel detection systems along the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been testing unidentified advanced tunnel detection systems in the eastern Sinai. A 14-member U.S. military delegation has been instructing the Egyptian security forces in the operation of the system to detect Palestinian weapons smuggling tunnels that connect to the Gaza Strip.

"The U.S. military plans to train and then relay the systems to Egypt," a U.S. diplomatic source said.

In 2008, the Bush administration approved $23 million for equipment to detect Palestinian smuggling tunnels that connect the divided city of Rafah. Over the last three months, at least three U.S. military delegations toured the Gaza-Sinai border to determine requirements for Egypt to detect and destroy an estimated 200 tunnels, used to transport everything from eggs to weapons to the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat reported that this was the first time a U.S. military delegation was training Egyptian forces along the Gaza border.

The newspaper said the delegation, which included Defense Department and U.S. embassy representatives, would remain between five and 14 days in eastern Sinai. The delegation has been based in capital of Sinai's northern governorate, El Arish.

The diplomatic source said the U.S. training of Egyptian security forces could take several months. The source said the U.S. military has also instructed Egyptian officers on methods to detect tunnel construction.

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