Unknown group calling itself Kataib Al-Aqsa has claimed responsibility for the bomb explosion in Jerusalem that left two Israelis killed and ten others injured, according to Maariv newspaper in its internet edition Thursday.
One of the dead was the daughter of the Israeli MK Yitshaz Levy from the Mafdal religious party, according to Israeli sources.
“Ayeley Levy, daughter of MK Yitshaz Levy, was one of the victims of today’s blast,” a source told AFP.
The other killed person was a friend of the daughter of Levy, said Israel’s radio report, adding that his was an attorney, but his name has not been known yet.
A car bomb blast ripped through the Mahane Yehuda market in west Jerusalem earlier Thursday.
The Israeli army radio reported that the car was stolen, and the police estimate the bomb contained at least ten kilograms of explosives, detonated either by timer or remote, according to the radio.
The remains of the car were towed from the scene, said the radio report, adding that the bomb in the stolen car was packed with nails.
Israel army radio interviewed a Jerusalem city parking inspector who said he gave the car bomb a ticket shortly before it blew up.
The report added that the police was searching for the bomber (or bombers) throughout the city.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Ynet reported that three of the casualties were children - brothers who were sent by their parents from their home in Gilo settlements to their grandmother's house in the center of the city where they would be safe.
They and the grandmother were injured in her house, said Ynet.
The chief police commander in the Jerusalem area, Yair Yitzhaki Israel’s radio that a car bomb exploded close to 3.00 pm (13.00 GMT) on a side street near the market in Jerusalem, according to Israel's radio.
Police have identified at least an Israeli as one of the people killed in the attack, he added.
Vast plumes of smoke billowed into the air over the center of the Jewish part of Jerusalem as ambulances rushed to the area, the target of previous attacks by Islamic militants, reported AFP.
Israel's radio reported that the bomb could have been activated by a remote control far from the shopping center.
Earlier, the radio reported that a car tried to enter the center of the market. Policemen saw the car and suspected and then chased it.
The car turned to one of the side streets of the market then exploded.
Last week, a Palestinian was arrested in northern Israel in a bus. He was planning to bomb himself in Haifa.
The incident was reported Thursday by the Shin Beit (Israel’s internal security).
Meanwhile, two explosive devices were thrown at an Israeli outpost in Hebron, reported the Jerusalem Post, quoting Israel’s radio.
Both soldiers manning the position were injured in the explosion, the radio reported –Albawaba.com
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