Palestinian Civil War Watch
Charles Johnson
Wed May 24, 2006 at 2:21 pm PDT • Views: 185
Following the attack earlier today by Fatah on a group of Hamas “activists” (killing one), a car bomb has taken out a top commander of Fatah’s “Preventive Security” force: Palestinian security chief killed in blast.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A Gaza security chief loyal to the Palestinian president was killed Wednesday when his car blew up, the second attack on a top commander in less than a week.
There was no claim of responsibility, but the explosion came at a time of an increasingly bloody power struggle between President Mahmoud Abbas’ forces and those of the Hamas-led government.
In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers waged a fierce battle with Palestinians during a raid to arrest a top militant, killing three people and wounding more than 30.
Nabil Hodhod, central Gaza commander of the powerful, Fatah-linked Preventive Security force, was killed when a blast ripped through his car in downtown Gaza City, not far from Shifa Hospital. His deputy was wounded.
Hodhod was the highest-ranking official to be killed in a week of violent incidents, sparked by Hamas’ fielding of its own militia in defiance of a ban by Abbas. Two other senior security officers have been targeted.
Frank says: