Al-Aqsa Brigades leader killed in clashes with Israeli forces

Nablus - Ma'an 18.1.08 (12,41) – A leader from the military wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, was killed during several hours of clashes with Israeli Special Forces in the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus on Friday. Israeli Special Forces stormed Balata refugee camp east of Nablus at dawn, and surrounded a house where four brigades members were holed up. Armed clashes ensued and Al-Aqsa leader Ahmed Sanakra was killed. His three fellow combatants, Yousef Hanoun, Mohamed Hweta and Mahmoud Shtawi, were arrested. The Israeli military had made several attempts to assassinate twenty-five-year-old Ahmed Sanakra in recent years. Medical sources reported that three-year-old Yazan Qar'an was also shot and wounded during the large scale invasion, carried out by more than 50 military vehicles that surrounded the camp from all its sides. The Israeli forces raided several houses and imposed a curfew in the camp before withdrawing, leaving Sanakra dead, and several Palestinian citizens injured.