Israel Thwarts Major Terror Attack -->Terrorists Using Booby-trapped Horses

Ten homicide bombers riding booby trapped horses were repelled today as they tried to get into Israel to conduct a massive terror attack.


This is the first time the terrorists have used horses as booby traps though other animals have been used as weapons. In 2001, a booby-trapped donkey cart exploded near troops in Gaza, and in 2003 Palestinian's sent an explosives-laden donkey toward troops near the West Bank town of Bethlehem. The donkeys were the only fatalities in both incidents.

Source: Booby-trapped horses used in failed terror attack
YAAKOV LAPPIN and jpost.com staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Under the cover of morning fog, a group of around 10 Palestinian gunmen armed with "huge amounts of explosives" launched a failed Gaza border assault at the Karni Crossing on Monday, in which booby-trapped horses were used, a security source told the Jerusalem Post.

At least four terrorists were killed in an ensuing exchange of fire with the IDF. No Israeli soldiers were wounded in the incident.

The terror cell belonged to the Janud Ansar Allah (Soldiers Loyal to Allah) organization, a small group which is linked to Iran and Hizbullah, the security source added.

Members of the cell, some of whom had suicide bomb belts strapped around their bodies, led the horses off of trucks and began planting explosive devices along the fence. They were identified by IDF soldiers on patrol, of Golani's 13th Battalion. The gunmen proceeded to open fire on the troops, while mortar fire from deep within the Gaza Strip was also directed at the soldiers.

Soldiers returned fire, and called for backup. At first, tanks were dispatched to the scene, and fired on the terror cell. Air Force combat helicopters then joined the fight, also firing on terrorist targets from above.

"A very big terror attack was thwarted," the security source said. "These terrorists were armed with a huge quantity of explosives. They launched a combined attack, using mortars, and attempted to approach the border fence with booby-trapped horses to harm our soldiers, before firing on our force."

"Hamas did not carry out this attack but they certainly provide general coverage for these small groups," the source continued, adding that it was too soon to know whether the cell had planned on kidnapping soldiers.

"The area turned into a war zone," the source said.

"Southern Command forces are prepared for these types of attacks, and are aware of the dangers present in the morning fog. There is always the chance terrorists will try to use that for an attack," he added.

Ismail Haniyeh, who heads Gaza's Hamas government, praised the attackers as "martyrs," and said the violence confirmed Israel's "aggressive intentions" toward the Palestinians.

Following the attack, Israel closed the Karni crossing, the main commercial terminal between Israel and Gaza, as well as the Nahal Oz fuel depot.

It is sick enough that the terrorists use their children as human sheilds, or convince young adults to "blow themselves up" as homicide bombers, blowing up defenseless horses is as sick as anything else they have done. These are the type of people that President Obama seemed to reach out to during his speech in Egypt last week.