Three gunned down in West Bank raid
Israeli troops raided the West Bank town of Qalqiliya early today, killing three Palestinians and seriously wounding a fourth man.
The army said all the dead were wanted militants who were shot while trying to escape arrest.
Witnesses identified the wounded man as Attef Shaaban, the local head of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades – a militant group loosely linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah party.
Shaaban was hit by two bullets but managed to flee. His deputy Abdul Rahman Nazal was killed, witnesses said.
However, the Palestinians said the two other men killed, while members of Fatah, were not militants.
Witnesses said that undercover troops entered the town in a civilian car and in a refrigerator truck and then opened fire from close range on a group of eight men who were standing outside a house.
The army said the men were shot when they refused to heed calls and warning shots to stop.
