Two Arab gunmen opened fired at an Israeli security patrol near the separation barrier on the edge of Jerusalem Saturday evening, wounding two security guards, one seriously.
Both attackers were shot and killed by the wounded men, along with an Arab bystander was also killed in the shootout, apparently killed by the gunmen, according to police.
The shooting attack took place during a routine patrol in the village of Sheikh Said, near the Jewish neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv, on the southern edge of the city.
An offshoot of the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, affiliated with the Fatah Party of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, claimed responsibility for the shooting, according to the Maan news agency.
The Jerusalem Post reported that a Magen David Adom spokesman said one of the Israeli security men, 26, was shot in the chest and was in serious condition, while the other was hit in the limbs and in moderate condition. Both were evacuated to Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Hospital at Ein Kerem.
A police sapper checked the bodies of the slain gunmen for fear that they might be booby trapped, and large police forces, including a helicopter, combed the area in search of any additional Palestinian militants. |
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