Two armed intruders from Jordan were killed Friday morning in a brief gun battle with an Israel Defense Force patrol in the northern Jordan Valley.
There were no Israeli casualties.
The incident, the sixth infiltration from Jordan this year and the second in less than two weeks, has senior IDF officers concerned that the Jordanian authorities are losing their ability to prevent incursions into Israel from their territory.
The two men armed with AK-47 assault rifles were spotted shortly after they breached the border near Moshav Mehola, south of Beit She’an. They were killed in an exchange of fire.
Both were described as about 20 years of age. No further identification was made public, and the Israeli authorities have not yet established which if any organization the gunmen belonged to.
They brought to eight the number of armed infiltrators from Jordan killed by the IDF this month.
Six men who entered from Jordan were gunned down March 11 in a running battle with Israeli soldiers near Kibbutz Tirat Zvi in the Beit She’an Valley.
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