AFP: "Moghnieh Group" Claims Responsibility for Killing 2 "Israeli" Policemen

Source: AFP, 15-3-2009

Two "Israeli" occupation policemen were shot dead in an attack on Sunday near an "Israeli" settlement in the occupied West Bank, "Israeli" police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. "Two policemen who were traveling in the Jordan Valley were shot dead. According to the initial investigation it is an attack," Rosenfeld told AFP.

He said the attack took place near the "Israeli" settlement of Massua in the northern Jordan Valley, just southeast of Nablus and near the major West Bank settlement of Ariel.

An anonymous caller claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the "Imad Moghnieh Group" in a telephone call to AFP. The resistance group is named after Hizbullah military commander Imad Moghnieh (Hajj Redwan) who was assassinated in a car bomb attack in Damascus in February 2008 that was blamed on "Israel".

"Israeli" occupation Police and the army sent reinforcements to the area where the attack took place and occupation troops had launched search operations in a bid to track down the assailants, Rosenfeld said. The website of "Israeli" daily Haaretz reported that one of the policemen was killed on the spot and that the other died of his wounds shortly after the arrival of emergency services. Their car was found on Highway 90 which skirts the border with Jordan to the east.

According to "Israeli" police, the driver of the car lost control of the vehicle after he was hit by gunfire. The Jordan Valley shares a 70-kilometre (43-mile) border with Jordan and represents a third of the West Bank which has been occupied by "Israel" since 1967. It is home to 30 "Israeli" settlements where a total of 7,000 settlers live. "Israel" has banned Palestinians from using Highway 90 since the start of the second Intifada in September 2000.