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Suicide bomber strikes telaviv killing at least four { November 1 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14943-2004Nov1.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14943-2004Nov1.html
Suicide Bomber Kills at Least Four in Tel Aviv Market
By John Ward Anderson and Molly Moore
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, November 1, 2004; 8:00 AM
TEL AVIV, Nov. 1 -- A Palestinian suicide bomber strode through a crowded open air market in central Tel Aviv Monday morning and detonated explosives, killing at least three people and himself and wounding an estimated 32 in the first suicide attack in this city in nearly a year, according to Israeli police.
Pandemonium spread through the narrow alleyways of the Carmel Market as the bomb spewed body parts across mounds of fruits and vegetables, and set fire to a clothing stall next to the detonation, witnesses said.
"The sights were awful," said Rachel Yishayau, a 58-year-old banana and kiwi vendor whose stall was just yards from the bomber. "There was an elderly woman. All her clothes were ripped off. She was practically naked and there was big hole in her buttock I covered her up with the carpet we use to cover our fruits."
The Palestinian militant group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, claimed responsibility for the attack in telephone calls to local news media offices. The callers identified the bomber as an 18-year-old from the Askar refugee camp near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
"This was a single suicide bomber, a man who blew up in the heart of the market," said Maj. Gen. David Tzur, commander of the Tel Aviv district police. "We always have warnings and operate under the assumption that they will try and attack us anywhere. . . . We had no concrete warning of an attack in Tel Aviv or for this specific place."
Israeli security forces set up roadblocks on major highways leading out of Tel Aviv, creating massive traffic jams as police searched vehicles in an effort to identify possible accomplices in the attack.
It was the first suicide bombing in Israel's largest city in nearly a year, although an Israeli soldier was killed in Tel Aviv last July by a bomb that was planted near a city bus stop. The last suicide bombing inside Israel occurred on Sept. 22 at a Jerusalem bus stop and hitch hiking post where two Israeli border policemen were killed.
Shoppers scrambled in panic through the congested lanes of the marketplace in the minutes after the 11:15 a.m. bombing, Israeli television footage showed. The blast occurred between a clothing stall and a produce stand just outside a small, glassed-in cheese shop, witnesses said.
"There was a strong explosion," said Dani Kanyas, 45, who sells parsley, mint, coriander and other herbs at a stand a few feet from the bombing. "I saw bodies on the floor, people lying down by the stalls. The clothes from the stall in front of the cheese shop were set on fire."
Rescue workers said many of the 32 wounded people were treated for shock at Tel Aviv area hospitals.
The number of suicide bombings inside Israel has declined dramatically in the past year as Israeli military forces have conducted continuous attacks against suspected militants across the West Bank. Israeli officials also credit the partial construction of a large wall and fence complex around and through the northern West Bank with deterring would-be bombers.
© 2004 The Washington Post Company
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