Suicide bomber kills 8 in Jerusalem

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, February 23, 2004

Suicide bomber kills 8 in Jerusalem

A suicide bomber on Sunday killed at least eight passengers on a crowded bus in Jerusalem at the height of rush hour, according to police in the city and Israeli ambulance services.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

A suicide bomber on Sunday killed at least eight passengers on a crowded bus in Jerusalem at the height of rush hour, according to police in the city and Israeli ambulance services.

Jerusalem police spokesman Gil Kleiman said the suicide bomber also died in the terrorist attack, which wounded more than 50 people, 11 of them seriously.

The blast happened in West Jerusalem about 8:30 a.m. (1:30 a.m. ET) on Sunday, the first day of Israel's working week.

Video showed the number 14 bus with its windows blown out and its interior mangled, as rescue workers removed the wounded and remains from the vehicle.

Three of the eight victims have been identified, according to the Jerusalem daily Haaretz: Lior Azulai, 18, who studied at the Gymnasia Rehavia high school in the capital, Nathaniel Havshush, 20, a staff sergeant in the Israel Defense Forces, and Bnayahu Jonathan Zuckerman, 18, of Jerusalem, who studied at the Experimental School of Jerusalem. Nine other students at the school were wounded in the blast, Haaretz reported.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- the military offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement -- claimed responsibility for the blast in a statement.

The group said the attack was in response to a February 11 Israeli military incursion into Gaza, in which 12 Palestinians were killed in gunbattles. The Israeli Army said the Palestinians were all armed, and that its forces were fighting the terrorist infrastructure. Palestinians say many of the killed were civilians.

Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks against Israeli civilians and military targets, and is designated by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization.

Sunday's blast took place 24 days after a Palestinian policeman blew himself up aboard a Jerusalem bus, killing 11 passengers and himself. The suicide bomber left a will with Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, saying his motive was to avenge Israeli attacks in Gaza. (Full story)

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat denounced Sunday's attack.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei also issued a statement, saying such actions did not serve the higher Palestinian interest and should be halted immediately.

Source: Agencies

Questions?Comments? Click here

Suicide car bomb kills 44 at Baghdad army center

At least 56 dead in Iraq suicide bombing

11 Iraqis killed in suicide car bomb attack

Chinese premier calls for government clean-up ( 26 Messages)

China reviews efforts to better serve people ( 7 Messages)

Japan decides to further cut back economic aid to China ( 60 Messages)

How 'sea turtles' turned out to be 'seaweeds'? ( 4 Messages)

CEO of Indian Wipro Industries: Chinese software industry can't catch up with India's ( 23 Messages)