Posted on 05/19/2003 12:52:34 PM PDT by priceofreedom
May. 19, 2003 3 killed, 50 wounded in Afula mall attack By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF
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In the fifth suicide bombing against Israelis in two days, a suicide bomber blew up at the main entrance to the Shaarei Amakim mall in Afula at about 5:15 p.m. Monday evening, killing three Israelis and wounding 50.
Two of those killed were the security guards, a man and a woman, who blocked the path of the suicide bomber and would not let him into the eastern entrance to the mall.
A third Israeli died of his injuries in Afula's Haemek hospital.
Northern district police chief Maj.-Gen Yaakov Borovsky confirmed that three people were killed in the attack, including the suicide bomber.
Fifty people were wounded in the attack, thirteen seriously. Of the thirteen, four are reportedly in a 'very' serious condition with head wounds. The remainder are in light to moderate condition.
All the wounded have been taken to hospital. Hospital Emergency numbers:
Haemek Hospital in Afula: 1255165 Rambam Hospital Haifa: 1255144
Both the Islamic Jihad and the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades took responsibility for the Afula attack. The Islamic Jihad had first taken responsibility, placing a call to journalists in the West Bank. Later, the Al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades called The Associated Press claiming responsibility and saying it had video footage of the bomber, whom it identified as a woman, Heba Daraghmeh, 19, from the West Bank village of Tubas.
Israeli security officials say that the bomber could have arrived in Afula from Jenin on the West Bank, a mere five kilometers from Afula, or from a number of Arab villages in the area as in previous attacks on Israel's northern cities. A police investigation is underway.
Monday's bombing was the fifth bombing against Israelis in two days which have killed 11 and wounded dozens.
Palestinians also fired two Kassam rockets at the northern Negev town of Sderot on Monday, injuring two women.
Mortars were also fired at Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip.
Initial reports said the Afula suicide bomber was a woman. Channel 2 reported that the security guard posted at the entrance to the mall was a woman, which may have led to the confusion as to the identity of the bomber.
There were two security guards at the scene of the attack. One guard, a new immigrant from the former Soviet Union who was stationed at the main entrance, and another security guard, a woman who had only started working at the mall on Monday, who was on foot patrol around the mall.
According to police reports the patrol guard reached the entrance to the mall at the same time as the suicide bomber and became immediately suspicious of the bomber. The suicide bomber tried to enter the mall but was blocked by the female security guard who stood in his path. According to an eyewitness, the female guard approached the suicide bomber and said, "Can I help you?" Police said that the security guard at the entrance also began moving towards the attacker. The eyewitness said that the bomber exploded a few seconds afterwards.
Police said that the guard's actions at the entrance prevented a major tragedy.
Channel 10 reported that the mall had conducted a mock terror attack exercise four days ago in which an 'attacker' had managed to gain entrance to the mall carrying explosives. The mall's security company said that the lessons learned from the exercise probably contributed to the increased alertness of the guards.
Inbal Badani, 24, a shop assistant at a clothing store in the mall and an eyewitness , said she heard a deafening explosion. "The entire mall filled up with smoke. It was pitch black all around as the light system went off. Lamps and light fixtures crashed onto people's heads and they started running in every direction. I hid inside the storeroom. The bodies were spread out at the entrance to the mall, it was shocking," she said.
Emergency services arrived at the scene of the attack shortly after the blast and began evacuating the wounded.
Israel Police Insp.-Gen. Shlomo Aharonishky said Israel is in the middle of a huge wave of terrorism, which is growing. Aharonisky said there were no specific terror warnings for Afula, but that there were scores of terror attack warnings. According to media reports, Israel has received 56 terror attack warnings.
Security services have beefed up their presence along the seam line and the borders with the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been sealed.
The latest wave of attacks began Saturday evening when a Hamas bomber blew himself up in a square in the West Bank city of Hebron, killing a husband and his pregnant wife. On Sunday morning, another Hamas suicide bomber blew up the Jerusalem No. 6 bus killing seven people. Very shortly after the bus attack a third Hamas bomber blew up at an army roadblock on the outskirts of the capital.
A suicide bomber on a bicycle attacked an IDF patrol in the area of Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip early Monday morning, injuring three soldiers.
The entrance to the Shaarei Amakim mall was seriously damaged in the blast. Cars that had parked close to the entrance also suffered damage.
The Shaarei Amakim in Afula is on Yehoshua Street in the city's old section. All entrances and exits to Afula have been closed and security forces are conducting searches for accomplices. Afula has been targeted repeatedly by Palestinian terrorist groups because of its proximity to the West Bank. Monday's attack was the sixth suicide bombing in the city since the start of the Palestinian uprising. Monday's attack brings the number of suicide bombers since September 2000 to 119.
Security officials said that if the bomber was male, it is most probably the work of a fifth Hamas suicide bomber in a wave of Hamas attacks against Israel over the past two days, reports Israel Radio.
David Baker, an official in the Israeli prime minister's office, said, "Palestinian terrorists have clearly chosen an agenda of murder and terror. It's obvious that despite Israel's effort to make progress and pursue a path of dialogue, Palestinian terrorists have chosen to strike at Israel's citizens at any and every opportunity."
Responding to the Afula attack, US President George W. Bush said at a press conference that the perpetrators of the attack were "killers who cant stand the thought of peace".
"The road map still stands. We need to find these people, cut off their money and bring them to justice," said Bush.
The white house said Monday that PA Chairman Yasser Arafat has never tried to stop terrorism and it was not clear "what game he was playing now".
Hamas spokesman Abdel Aziz Rantisi, while not taking responsibility for the attack, said that the bombing showed that "our fighters are capable of reaching them (Israelis) in every corner of our occupied land. ... As long as the occupation remains on our land and as long as the occupation soldiers are breathing our air we will continue our resistance."
Asked whether Hamas was challenging Mahmoud Abbas (Palestinian Prime Minister), Rantisi said only that there was no point in trying to negotiate with Sharon, whom he called a "terrorist."
The Palestinian Authority condemned the bombing. "We reject this (suicide attacks) because they harm us politically and morally and don't represent the Palestinian position," said Labor Minister Ghassan Khatib.
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