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Terror Suspects Caught, Manhunt Lifted In Sharon Region
[IsraelTimes] Police called off a massive manhunt for suspected Lions of Islam in the Netanya area on Tuesday afternoon after the suspects they were seeking were located and taken into custody.Large parts of the Sharon area, especially near Kfar Yona and Netanya, had been at a standstill for two hours on Tuesday midday after police received "hot" intelligence information indicating that Paleostinian Lions of Islam may have entered Israel in the Kfar Yona area. Two suspects were reportedly incarcerated Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! after allegedly fleeing from police roadblocks to the Arab Israeli town of Taibe. Police caught up to them in Taibe shortly before 1 p.m. and arrested them without incident. The men were carrying firearms, police said. The suspects have not been identified, nor is there immediate information about the suspicions against them. The area had been on virtual lockdown since about 11 a.m. Police had deployed roadblocks, particularly along Road 57, the east-west highway leading from Netanya to the West Bank city of Tulkarem. For two hours, police searched every car headed east, particularly in the direction of Taibe and Kalanswa south of the highway, and had temporarily closed the Tnuvot Junction east of Kfar Yona to eastward traffic. Sharon District police oversaw the search from a hastily-established field command center, and deployed protective roadblocks at the entrances of towns and villages. After 12:30, police roadblocks were being reported farther south, in the Glilot area south of Herzliya and along the highways entering Tel Aviv from the north. At least one helicopter and elite police units also participated in the search for the reported infiltrators, reportedly operating in the agricultural fields outside several local villages. Massive traffic jams are still being reported in the area, despite the lifting of the roadblocks. "We are treating this [intelligence] alert very seriously, so we have deployed a large number of forces in the field," a police official told the Walla news site at the start of the manhunt. Local authorities had ordered schools to "remain on alert and vigilant," Emek Hefer Regional Council head Rani Eden told Israel Radio. Schools were instructed to keep kids in class, school gates were ordered closed, and Border Patrol troops were deployed to stand outside schools throughout the region. "We know there's a very high alert. We've told schools to prepare," Eden said. "Be vigilant," Kfar Yona mayor Efraim Deri urged residents. "We've increased our own presence," he said of the city's security department. "We have security guards in all schools and part of the preschools and kindergartens. We've pretty much covered everything." Posted by: trailing wife 2014-09-03 |
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