> Hamas police kill pro-al Qaeda gunman, 3 others
> 16 Sep 2008 06:06:21 GMT
> Source: Reuters
> GAZA, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Hamas security police killed four Palestinians in
> clashes with gunmen in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, including a pro-al Qaeda
> militant, a Hamas security source said.
>
> The fighting between the Islamist Hamas security forces and members of the
> Doghmosh clan was the worst among Palestinians in the coastal territory
> since clashes in July in which more than a dozen died.
>
> Hamas forces, responding to the killing of one of their policemen during an
> arrest raid on Monday, raided a clan stronghold in Gaza City before dawn on
> Tuesday in search of a suspect in that slaying, officials said.
>
> Four clan members were killed in ensuing clashes that went on for hours and
> continued into Tuesday morning, while others were placed under arrest, the
> Hamas source said. The sounds of gunfire and explosions echoed through the
> city.
>
> Some clan members, allied with al Qaeda, were involved in the March 2007
> abduction of BBC reporter Alan Johnston, who was held hostage for four
> months before being released.
>
> Others in the clan are divided between supporters of Islamist Hamas and
> those who back Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, whose
> fighters were defeated when Hamas seized control of Gaza last year.
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