�Flotilla Martyrs� claim responsibility for Hebron shooting attack

YNet News (Link) - Ali Waked (June 14, 2010)

Terror groups avenging flotilla deaths? A group by the name of �The Freedom Flotilla�s Martyrs� claimed responsibility for Monday�s Hebron shooting attack, in which Command Sergeant Major Yehoshua (Shuki) Sofer was killed, and three other police officers were injured.

The group, which is unknown, issued a statement saying the attack was pat of a series of steps it plans to take in response to what it called �the Israeli crime� of the deadly raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

�Our mujahedeen group in south Hebron ambushed an Israeli police car near Beit Hagai at 7:15 am and opened heavy fire at it from close range,� the statement said.

The statement went on to say, �Our fighters managed to withdraw from the scene peacefully. Our response will continue, we will not forsake our weapons as long as the Zionist military is in our lands, and we will not acknowledge any ceasefire.�

Command Sergeant Sofer served in the Hebron District Police for 14 years, and planned to wed this September. He was hit by three bullets that were fired at him. Another officer was seriously injured and two others sustained lights wounds in the incident.

The condition of the officer who was seriously injured later improved and his condition was defined as moderate.

The policeman who was driving the car, said he heard gunshots from the left side of the vehicle and his colleagues screaming from the back of the car. He said he also heard one of the bullets pass over his head, before he was hit in the shoulder from another bullet.

He added that he continued driving on Road 60 until the officers were met by rescue forces, who gave them initial medical treatment and evacuated them to the hospitals.

According to estimates, the vehicle was shot by one person or more who was standing at the side of the road and fired the short at close range.