Terror cell tries to kidnap IAF officers

Channel 10 report: Man claiming to be squadron commander calls officers, tries to lure them to meet.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
IAF jet 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
IAF jet 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
A terror cell using sophisticated methods in an effort to kidnap Israeli Air Force officers has worried the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Channel 10 reported Wednesday. The cell was discovered when an officer received a call to his military-issued cellular phone by a man claiming to be a commander of a new top-secret IAF squadron. The man tried to extract information on the officer's training, location and fields of expertise, the officer said, adding that the caller had a distinct Arabic accent. The man called the officer on the pretext that he was setting up interviews with IAF officers in order to handpick the soldiers who would man the "new" squadron. The method by which the terror cell operated was simple: They called cellular phones randomly, relying on the fact that the phones that the military issues to officers of a specific unit all have phone numbers beginning with the same sequence.