Police stop suicide bomber's attack - by a second
Police leaped on a Palestinian suicide bomber today and grabbed a bag packed with explosives and nails from him as he tried to detonate it in a busy Israeli town.
If they had acted a split second later, the police and people near them in Afula, in northern Israel, would have been blown up.
The town was sealed off and police asked residents to remain indoors while security forces searched for the bomber’s accomplice.
The incident began when a bag believed to be full of explosives was discovered in a town centre bank. When police arrived, a man was seen fleeing the scene with another bag.
As police gave chase, he tried to set it off with a switch he was holding, said spokesman Yossi Hasson.
Officers managed to jump on the suspect, grab the explosive from him and prevent it from going off, Hasson said.
The original bag found in the bank did not contain explosives, police said.
Israeli police have been on high alert for bombings in light of 10 months of clashes with the Palestinians.
Twenty-one Israelis were killed last month when a bomber exploded himself in a line of people outside a Tel Aviv disco.
