Israel Border Police Thwart Suicide Bombing

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israeli security forces thwarted an attempted suicide bombing Friday morning near the city of Ariel in Samaria.

Border Police officers manning a roadblock at the Tapuach Junction in northern Samaria noticed a Palestinian Arab wearing a heavy coat on a particularly hot spring morning.

Following standard protocol, the officers asked him to keep his distance and remove the coat. He initially refused, but in the end admitted he was strapped with explosives.

Police cordoned off the area and summoned a bomb squad to defuse the explosives. The 20-year-old Nablus resident was turned over to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) for questioning.

The suicide belt consisted of 12 pipe bombs wired together, the IDF Spokesman's Office reported.

"The safety of Israeli civilians has been under constant threat, whether by way of rocket attacks, suicide bombings and even the slaughtering of children in their sleep," the Spokesman's Office said. "The IDF and Israeli security forces will remain vigilant against the threat of terror."