Israeli troops, pursued a group of terrorists across the Jordan River and killed two of them in a clash on Jordanian territory yesterday. A third terrorist is believed to have been killed when explosives he was carrying detonated. There were no Israeli casualties.
The incident was the first in several months involving terrorist infiltrators from Jordan. Israeli authorities are uncertain whether the Jordanian government was ware of the terrorists presence but believe it may have been because of the recent rapprochement between King Hussein and Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat.
According to the official announcement, the terrorist group was detected Friday in the lower Jordan valley and an alert was called at the Dead Sea potash works and Neat Hakikar settlement. By noon yesterday, the terrorists’ trail was spotted and an Israeli squad was ordered after them. The pursuit ended in an exchange of fire somewhere east of the Jordan River. The terrorists were carrying Kalachnikov assault rifles, hand grenades and binoculars.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.