Border Police thwart suspected terror plot at Tapuah Junction in West Bank

Three explosive devices were found on the suspects.

By BEN HARTMAN, DANIEL K. EISENBUD
Explosive devise seized from Palestinian suspects, October 2, 2014 (photo credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Explosive devise seized from Palestinian suspects, October 2, 2014
(photo credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Border Police officers on Thursday afternoon arrested two Palestinian men at the Tapuah junction in Samaria who were carrying pipe bombs and an improvised pistol, police said.
According to the Border Police, the two men “appeared suspicious” and when they were approached by officers at a bus stop at the checkpoint one of them pulled a pistol. He was overpowered and arrested along with his partner. The two were then searched and found to be carrying three explosive devices and two knives. The Border Police said the officers prevented a “major terrorist attack.”
The commander of the Border Police detachment at the checkpoint, St.-Sgt. Almog Ohana, said that when the Palestinian man pulled out his pistol one officer knocked it out of his hand while another cocked his service rifle at the man.
Ohana said the officers noticed that one of the men was carrying a backpack with wires protruding from it.
The man refused to open the bag, at which point the officers cleared the area and called police sappers.
The two suspects, both residents of Nablus in their 20s, were taken for interrogation by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).
The checkpoint has been a site of repeated terrorist attacks and attempted attacks. In May, the Border Police arrested a man with 12 pipe bombs strapped to his body. At the same checkpoint in April 2013, Evyatar Borovsky, the father of five, was murdered by a Palestinian man who stabbed him and shot him in the back while he waited for a ride at the checkpoint.
Also Thursday, two Israeli men driving through the east Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur were lightly wounded by a rock attack on their vehicle. According to police, several of the car’s windows were shattered during the 3 p.m. assault, resulting in the driver and passenger being taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center treatment.
A police spokesman said no arrests have been made.
Border Police at Tapuah Junction in the West Bank
Due to A-Tur’s narrow, winding streets and congested traffic, many Jewish vehicles have been bombarded by rock attacks in the area over the years by Arab youths from area schools, despite a police substation being built for added protection.