Two Israeli officers killed

Two Israeli officers killed in W Bank
 

Two Israeli police officers have been shot dead near a Jewish settlement in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank

The two were killed on Sunday when their car came under attack near the Jewish settlement of Massua as they were traveling in the northern Jordan Valley, Israel's police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.

Ynet reported that the gunfire had caused the vehicle to overturn.

According to Israeli media, one of the police officers was killed immediately and the other died of the wounds sustained shortly after he was taken to hospital.

Police and army reinforcements were sent to the area where the incident took place, said Rosenfeld, adding that a quest has been launched to track down those behind the attack.

An anonymous caller had claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the 'Imad Mughniyeh Group', AFP reported.

The group is named after Hezbollah commander, Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a car bomb attack in Damascus in February 2008 that was widely attributed to Israel.

The Jordan Valley shares a 70-kilometre (43-mile) border with Jordan and accounts for a third of the West Bank, which has been Occupied and illegally annexed by Israel since 1967.

Some 30 Jewish settlements stand in the area, lodging some 7,000 Israeli settlers, while Tel Aviv keeps erecting new homes in the occupied Palestinian territory despite opposition from the international community and the UN.

SB/MD/MRS/SME/MMA