Bulldozer attack kills 3 people and wounds 45 in Palestina

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A Palestinian driving an enormous construction vehicle went on the rampage in Jerusalem, crashing into vehicles and pedestrians. Photo: EFE

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• Attack in Jerusalem

Security officials were examining the scene on Wednesday after a Palestinian driving an enormous construction vehicle went on the rampage in Jerusalem, crashing into vehicles and pedestrians.

At least three people were killed and 45 wounded before the attacker was shot dead by an off-duty soldier. The incident wrought havoc, forced traffic to a standstill and sent hundreds of people fleeing in panic, as medics treated the wounded.

Three Palestinian militant groups have since claimed responsibility for the attack while Israeli police are referring to the attacker as a "terrorist" acting on his own.

The rampage took place in front of an office building that is home to The Associated Press and to other media outlets. Local TV has claimed four people died as a result of the rampage: confirmed reports currently put the death toll at three.

In the immediate aftermath, two bodies lay motionless at the scene, covered in plastic, while injured people sat dazed amid piles of broken glass and pools of blood that had stained the street.

Many of the injured were on a bus that over-turned in the chaos. The body of the attacker could be seen slumped at the seat of the bulldozer. Wednesday's attack marks a departure from previous methods of attack used by militant groups.

During the second Palestinian uprising, which erupted in late 2000, Jerusalem experienced dozens of suicide bombings. The city has remained largely quiet the past three years, although sporadic attacks have occurred - most recently in March, when a Palestinian gunman entered a Jerusalem seminary and killed eight young students.

The three organizations claiming responsibility for Wednesday's attack include the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, which is affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The other two are the Galilee Freedom Battalion, which is suspected of being affiliated with Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a fringe left-wing militant group.

The Hamas militant group, which runs the Gaza Strip and is currently maintaining a fragile cease-fire with Israel, denies responsibility for the attack.

Israeli police chief Dudi Cohen said the attacker appeared to be acting alone. If that is the case, a major Israeli retaliation seems unlikely. The Israeli government condemned the attack.

Government spokesman Mark Regev, told AP Television "people who refuse to condemn this sort of deliberate bloodshed expose themselves for what they really are".