Tow Injured by Booby-trapped Hand Grenades in Jerusalem Suburb

Two booby-trapped hand grenades exploded in an Arab suburb of Jerusalem today slightly injuring a nun and a Moslem religious functionary. The devices had been planted outside a mosque and near a Greek Orthodox monastery in Azariye.

The incident was the latest in a recent series of grenade assaults aimed at Moslem and Christian religious institutions in and around Jerusalem. A grenade exploded in Houssan village on the West Bank last week and two unexploded grenades were found and defused. Several days earlier, five booby trapped grenades were discovered at Moslem and Christian sites in Jerusalem and defused before they detonated.

The explosions in Azariye today were the first that caused injuries. The Moslem victim was the local muezzin who calls the faithful to prayer.

Police are investigating an unknown group that calls itself “terror against terror” which claimed responsibility for the earlier grenade attacks in anonymous telephone calls to the press. Similar incidents occurred two years ago. The perpetrators are believed to be Jewish extremists with military training but so far no arrests have been made.

Meanwhile, Israeli security forces fired into the air and lobbed tear gas bombs at student demonstrators at Najah University in Nablus today. The students were protesting the erection of roadblocks on the approaches to the university to prevent what the Israeli authorities called “provocateurs” from entering the campus. They were also demonstrating solidarity with Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat on the eve of his departure from Tripoli in northern Lebanon.

Earlier, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at an Israel army patrol in Nablus but caused no injuries or damage.