Five dead in terror attack on Israeli bus
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Aug 18, 2011, 3:52:57 PM8/18/11
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Five dead in terror attack on Israeli bus
At least five people were killed when militants fired at Israeli vehicles near the Egyptian frontier today, sparking a heavy gun battle in a three-pronged attack, Israeli TV said.
12:10PM BST 18 Aug 2011
The Telegraph UK
There were also unconfirmed reports on Israel's main television stations that an anti-tank missile was fired across the border from Egypt. A military spokesman said civilians and soldiers are among the casualties.
Rescue services officials say five people have been critically wounded in the attack on a passenger car and five were moderately wounded in the attack on the bus.
The attacks are likely to raise concerns about the ability of Egypt's new leadership to rein in militants along the border.
The gunmen first ambushed a civilian bus and wounded at least five people, the military said, on Israel's Highway 12, a desert road about 18 miles north of the Red Sea resort of Eilat. The road passes within feet of the open frontier with Egypt.
The gunmen fled and shortly afterwards, Israeli television and radio stations reported a second attack on another vehicle further up the same road, with medics initially saying another five people had been hurt.
This afternoon emergency services chief Eli Bin told public radio that five people had died in the incident.
Shortly afterwards, Israeli media reported that troops were engaged in a gun battle with the suspected perpetrators of the two attacks at a location near the border.
Israeli officials have voiced concern that militant groups in the Sinai have been making use of a security vacuum left by the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in February.
Kobi Arad, a doctor at Eilat's Yoseftal hospital said 10 people had been injured in the two attacks, one of them seriously and nine who were only lightly wounded.
Security sources initially said the gunfire appeared to come from the Egyptian side of the border, which runs parallel to route 12 for several dozen miles.
Army spokeswoman Avital Leibovitch told AFP there was one shooting attack against a bus, while a second bus had been hit by a roadside bomb.
"We are talking about two events: the first one is a bus that was heading from Shizafon to Eilat," she said, referring to a location some 12 miles north of Eilat.
"Heavy fire was opened towards the bus. We know there are wounded in various manners from the bus," she said.
"The second event, which was not far away, was another bus. There was an IED which was activated towards the bus and there were injuries as well in that bus," she said, referring to a roadside bomb.
"There is still an ongoing exchange of fire between our forces and a terrorist squad," she said, describing the two incidents as "a combined attack in a very specific area approximately 20 miles north of Eilat."
Israel's Channel 2 television showed footage of the first bus standing on a desert road with bullet holes in the windscreen, and several windows shot out.
Several ambulances and tens of soldiers could be seen milling around as two military helicopters were dispatched to help the search for the attackers.
Security officials had no immediate information about the identity of the attackers, although there was some speculation they may have infiltrated from Egypt.
Worries over the attack sent the Israeli shekel down against the dollar and stocks dipped today.
Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, recently stepped up security activity in the Sinai desert, which borders the Jewish state and the Gaza Strip.
Egyptian security sources said on Tuesday that an army crackdown on armed groups in the northern Sinai had netted four Islamist militants as they prepared to blow up a gas pipeline.
But after today's attack, Egyptian security sources said on it was unlikely that the bus ambush had come from Egyptian territory.
Security patrols on the Egyptian-Israeli border had not picked up on "suspicious movements" on the Egyptian side, a source said, adding that security had been heightened on the border after news of the attack.
Five dead in terror attack on Israeli bus
At least five people were killed when militants fired at Israeli vehicles near the Egyptian frontier today, sparking a heavy gun battle in a three-pronged attack, Israeli TV said.
12:10PM BST 18 Aug 2011
The Telegraph UK
There were also unconfirmed reports on Israel's main television stations that an anti-tank missile was fired across the border from Egypt. A military spokesman said civilians and soldiers are among the casualties.
Rescue services officials say five people have been critically wounded in the attack on a passenger car and five were moderately wounded in the attack on the bus.
The attacks are likely to raise concerns about the ability of Egypt's new leadership to rein in militants along the border.
The gunmen first ambushed a civilian bus and wounded at least five people, the military said, on Israel's Highway 12, a desert road about 18 miles north of the Red Sea resort of Eilat. The road passes within feet of the open frontier with Egypt.
The gunmen fled and shortly afterwards, Israeli television and radio stations reported a second attack on another vehicle further up the same road, with medics initially saying another five people had been hurt.
This afternoon emergency services chief Eli Bin told public radio that five people had died in the incident.
Shortly afterwards, Israeli media reported that troops were engaged in a gun battle with the suspected perpetrators of the two attacks at a location near the border.
Israeli officials have voiced concern that militant groups in the Sinai have been making use of a security vacuum left by the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in February.
Kobi Arad, a doctor at Eilat's Yoseftal hospital said 10 people had been injured in the two attacks, one of them seriously and nine who were only lightly wounded.
Security sources initially said the gunfire appeared to come from the Egyptian side of the border, which runs parallel to route 12 for several dozen miles.
Army spokeswoman Avital Leibovitch told AFP there was one shooting attack against a bus, while a second bus had been hit by a roadside bomb.
"We are talking about two events: the first one is a bus that was heading from Shizafon to Eilat," she said, referring to a location some 12 miles north of Eilat.
"Heavy fire was opened towards the bus. We know there are wounded in various manners from the bus," she said.
"The second event, which was not far away, was another bus. There was an IED which was activated towards the bus and there were injuries as well in that bus," she said, referring to a roadside bomb.
"There is still an ongoing exchange of fire between our forces and a terrorist squad," she said, describing the two incidents as "a combined attack in a very specific area approximately 20 miles north of Eilat."
Israel's Channel 2 television showed footage of the first bus standing on a desert road with bullet holes in the windscreen, and several windows shot out.
Several ambulances and tens of soldiers could be seen milling around as two military helicopters were dispatched to help the search for the attackers.
Security officials had no immediate information about the identity of the attackers, although there was some speculation they may have infiltrated from Egypt.
Worries over the attack sent the Israeli shekel down against the dollar and stocks dipped today.
Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, recently stepped up security activity in the Sinai desert, which borders the Jewish state and the Gaza Strip.
Egyptian security sources said on Tuesday that an army crackdown on armed groups in the northern Sinai had netted four Islamist militants as they prepared to blow up a gas pipeline.
But after today's attack, Egyptian security sources said on it was unlikely that the bus ambush had come from Egyptian territory.
Security patrols on the Egyptian-Israeli border had not picked up on "suspicious movements" on the Egyptian side, a source said, adding that security had been heightened on the border after news of the attack.
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