Security sources announced Thursday the capture of the terrorist gang responsible for the Egged bus bombing in Jerusalem on December 6, 1983 which killed six people and injured 50. The arrests were made in East Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah in what the sources said was their “most successful week” for rounding up dangerous terrorists.
The announcement followed the arrests last Thursday and Friday of the terrorists responsible for the October 15 grenade attack on Israeli soldiers and their families in the Old City which took one life and wounded 69 soldiers and civilians.
The rented flat in Azariya village near Jerusalem, used by the terrorists as a hideout, has been sealed off and arms and ammunition found there were seized.
The latest successes have gone a long way to retrieve the reputation of the security forces which suffered in the Shin Bet affair. That was the cover-up by ranking security service officers of the deaths of two Arab bus hijackers at the hands of security agents in 1984. The head of Shin Bet, Avraham Shalom, and several of his top aides were forced to resign.
The round-up of terrorists has also revived memories of the Egged bus tragedy. Six kilos of explosives destroyed the crowded vehicle on Herzl Boulevand, one of Jerusalem’s main traffic arteries. It was one of the worst terrorist bombings ever in Jerusalem. Families of the victims are demanding the death penalty for the captured terrorists.
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