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Fatah Gunmen Kill Two Egyptian Soldiers, Wound 30 on Gaza Border

(Jerusalem Post) Khaled Abu Toameh - Two Egyptian border guards were killed and at least 30 wounded when scores of Fatah gunmen opened fire at Egyptian army posts after demolishing parts of the concrete slabs along the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, enabling many Palestinians to cross into Egypt. Eyewitnesses said the gunmen used a bulldozer and explosives to create a hole in the wall. The gunmen were protesting the arrest of Ala al-Hams, a senior commander of Fatah's armed wing in southern Gaza, by PA security forces on charges of kidnapping three British nationals last week. Egyptian Gen. Essam el-Sheikh, the chief of security forces in the northern Sinai, said the Palestinians were firing automatic weapons and shotguns, and that Egyptian troops were forced to pull back one kilometer from the border. Brig. Adel Fawzi said the Egyptian troops were hampered initially because they had no orders to shoot. El-Sheikh, however, said Egyptian forces now were firing back. In a separate incident, several Palestinian gunmen also tried to kidnap the parents of Rachel Corrie, an American woman who was killed in 2003 when she tried to stop an IDF bulldozer from demolishing a Palestinian house. The kidnapping attempt failed, but the Corries later left the Gaza Strip out of fear for their lives.
2006-01-05 00:00:00
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