<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile Ñ Israel captures Jihad operative in the West Bank

Israel captures Jihad operative in the West Bank

Thursday, December 10, 2009   E-Mail this story   Free Headline Alerts

TEL AVIV Ñ Israel has reported the capture of a senior Palestinian insurgent.

The military said Salah Mohamed Bukhari was captured on late Dec. 7 in the West Bank, Middle East Newsline reported. Bukhari, based in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, was identified as a senior operative of the Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad.

"An Islamic Jihad operative suspected of involvement in a string of terror attacks in Israel was arrested overnight Dec. 7 in a joint effort by the Israel Defense Forces Duvdevan Unit and the Shin Bet Security Service," a military statement said on Dec. 8.

Officials said Bukhari had been wanted by Israel since 2002. In that year, Bukhari was said to have driven two suicide bombers to the central bus station of the Israeli city of Kfar Sava, in an attack that injured 28 people.

The military said Bukhari was involved in several suicide strikes and the planting of improvised explosive devices in the Nablus area. Officials said Bukhari had been hiding in Nablus over the last seven years.

"Bukahri was also involved in activities against Israel Defense Forces soldiers," the military said. "In 2002 he attempted to carry out a car bombing and to detonate large explosives against IDF soldiers. Between 2002-2003, Buchari planned to abduct Israeli soldiers and to construct an explosives-manufacturing lab inside Israeli territory."

Jihad has long been the most active Palestinian insurgency group in the West Bank. In 2008, the militia reduced operations amid the start of Israeli-Palestinian Authority coordination.

For its part, Jihad said an Israeli ground force arrived in Al Yamoun near Jenin on Dec. 6. Three Jihad operatives were arrested in a gun battle said to have lasted all night.

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