Security circles have warned the public that a new wave of terrorist acts is possible, employing more sophisticated weapons than in the past. The circles said a study of recent incidents showed that the terrorist organizations are better equipped than ever before and find it easier to recruit new members in the present political atmosphere. They operate in small cells of 2-3 persons, some of which are not connected with known terrorist groups.
Interior Minister Yosef Burg reported today that security forces have captured the terrorists responsible for five of seven recent attacks on Jerusalem buses, but not the perpetrators of last Friday’s bus bombing in which six passengers were killed and 19 persons injured. According to Burg, the terrorists who planted a bomb in a bus in the religious neighborhood of Geula three months ago have been caught. He said the eight-man gang was the same one that attacked a tourist bus in Nablus last April in which two West Germans were killed.
As the investigation into Friday’s outrage continued, a special committee of experts established in its aftermath to study Jerusalem’s security problems recommended that armed personnel search bus passengers and their belongings. It proposed that civil guard volunteers, civil defense soldiers and retired veterans be trained for the job.
Yesterday, terrorists set fire to a bus on the Ramallah Road near Shukba village on the West Bank. The bus was enroute to pick up Arabs going to jobs in Israel. The driver, an Arab, was not hurt.
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