Palestinian security official does not rule out that attack on station revenge for earlier killing of fugitive.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHPA policeman 370(photo credit: REUTERS)
A Palestinian Authority policeman was killed when unidentified gunmen attacked a police station near Bethlehem on Tuesday night.The victim was identified as 23-year-old Nasser Barwish.The attack took place in the village of Tukua, east of Bethlehem.Luay Zreikat, a spokesman for the Palestinian police in Bethlehem, said he believed that the attack was linked to another shooting incident that took place in the city on Monday.In that incident, PA policeman shot and killed 30-yearold Hassan Abu Mahameed, a fugitive wanted for murder and attempted murder.The PA said that Abu Mahameed was shot after he refused to obey orders to halt.Abu Mahameed was unarmed during the incident.A PA security official said he did not rule out that members of Abu Mahameed’s clan were behind the attack on the police station in Tukua.Following the death of Abu Mahameed, members of his clan rioted in Bethlehem and accused the PA police of killing him in cold blood as he arrived to pick up his daughter from school.The Abu Mahameed clan denied responsibility for the attack on the police station and called for bringing the perpetrators to trial.
Gen. Adnan Damiri, spokesman for the PA security forces, said that the police know the identity of the assailants who carried out the shooting attack on the police station.Damiri said that the attackers have been wanted by the PA security forces for several years.
