Gaza rebel leader detonates himself during mosque raid
Source: Agencies |
August 16, 2009, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE leader of an al-Qaida-inspired group in the Gaza Strip blew himself up during a shootout yesterday with security forces that at least killed 24 people.
The jihadis have posed one of the biggest challenges to Hamas since the militant group seized power in Gaza two years ago.
The fighting erupted on Friday when Hamas security men surrounded a mosque in southern Gaza town Rafah on the Egypt border where about 100 members of Jund Ansar Allah, or the Soldiers of the Companions of God, were holed up.
Flares lit up the sky overnight as Hamas machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenades slammed into the mosque.
The militants inside the structure returned fire with automatic weapons and grenades of their own.
The head of the radical Islamic group, Abdel-Latif Moussa, was killed when fighting resumed after dawn yesterday, said Ihab Ghussein, a Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman.
He said Moussa detonated an explosives vest he was wearing during the fighting.
"The so-called Moussa has committed suicide ... killing a mediator who had been sent to him to persuade him and his followers to hand themselves over to the government," Ghussein said.
He said the fighting ended later in the morning.
Dr Moaiya Hassanain of the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said a total of 24 people, including six Hamas police officers and an 11-year-old girl, were killed in the violence that also wounded 150.
The group's Website vowed vengeance, meanwhile, saying "we swear to God to avenge the martyrs' blood and we will turn their women to widows."
Hamas also confirmed the death in the fighting of one of its high-level commanders, Abu Jibril Shimali, whom Israel said orchestrated the capture three years ago of Gilad Schalit, an Israeli soldier who is still being held by Hamas.
The fighting appeared to confirm Hamas' iron rule in Gaza despite a punishing Israeli and Egyptian-led blockade that keeps out all but basic humanitarian supplies.
The jihadis have posed one of the biggest challenges to Hamas since the militant group seized power in Gaza two years ago.
The fighting erupted on Friday when Hamas security men surrounded a mosque in southern Gaza town Rafah on the Egypt border where about 100 members of Jund Ansar Allah, or the Soldiers of the Companions of God, were holed up.
Flares lit up the sky overnight as Hamas machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenades slammed into the mosque.
The militants inside the structure returned fire with automatic weapons and grenades of their own.
The head of the radical Islamic group, Abdel-Latif Moussa, was killed when fighting resumed after dawn yesterday, said Ihab Ghussein, a Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman.
He said Moussa detonated an explosives vest he was wearing during the fighting.
"The so-called Moussa has committed suicide ... killing a mediator who had been sent to him to persuade him and his followers to hand themselves over to the government," Ghussein said.
He said the fighting ended later in the morning.
Dr Moaiya Hassanain of the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said a total of 24 people, including six Hamas police officers and an 11-year-old girl, were killed in the violence that also wounded 150.
The group's Website vowed vengeance, meanwhile, saying "we swear to God to avenge the martyrs' blood and we will turn their women to widows."
Hamas also confirmed the death in the fighting of one of its high-level commanders, Abu Jibril Shimali, whom Israel said orchestrated the capture three years ago of Gilad Schalit, an Israeli soldier who is still being held by Hamas.
The fighting appeared to confirm Hamas' iron rule in Gaza despite a punishing Israeli and Egyptian-led blockade that keeps out all but basic humanitarian supplies.
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