The sources said the Hamas military and security forces have been
searching for Taleb for more than a year. They identified Taleb as the de
facto leader of the Al Qaida-aligned opposition, termed Salafists, in the
Gaza Strip. Taleb was said to have been arrested early October, Middle East Newsline reported.
"We will strike the Salafists with an iron fist and without mercy," a
Hamas security commander said.
The sources said the Hamas regime led by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh
stepped up the search for Taleb in wake of the assault on an Al Qaida
stronghold in Rafah in August 2009. In the assault, more than 30 people were
killed, most of them from the Jund Ansar Allah. The commander of Jund, Abdul
Latif Mussa, was also killed.
Despite the Hamas operation, Jund claimed responsibility for a series of
bombings and other attacks on Hamas security forces in September. Hamas
sources said the attacks were believed to have been carried out by Jaljalat,
said to have 500 members. Hamas has assessed that Al Qaida-aligned groups,
financed by Gulf Arabs, comprise about 2,000 operatives, many of them former
Fatah fighters.
At the same time, Hamas released 28 members of Jund. The release on Oct.
7 came after the Islamist operatives pledged not to act against the Hamas
regime.