PFLP senior member escapes assassination attempt

A pro-Assad Palestinian terrorist group claimed on Tuesday that one of its leaders in the West Bank escaped an assassination attempt the previous night.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command, said that unidentified gunmen opened fire at the car of Muhammad Jibril, a senior member of the group, in Nablus.

Jibril was not hurt, it said.

The group, whose members have been fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces against the rebels over the past two years, called on the Palestinian Authority to capture the perpetrators and bring them to trial.

No group claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt.

The Damascus-based PFLP-GC, which is headed by Ahmed Jibril, has been strongly condemned by many Palestinians for siding with Assad.

The terrorist group has also been accused of participating in recent armed attacks against Palestinians in the Yarmouk refugee camp near Damascus.

The PA governor of Nablus, Jibreen al-Bakri, said the shooting incident was “criminally-motivated” and had no political implications.

The PA security forces arrested a Nablus resident on suspicion of involvement in the attack, which was the result of a financial dispute, Bakri said.