Israeli troops kill three militants in W Bank raid

JENIN, West Bank, Feb 28 (Reuters) Israeli troops shot dead three Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin today, and forces resumed operations in Nablus one day after Palestinians said they had pulled out.

A Palestinian security source said an undercover Israeli unit shot all the three militants dead near a refugee camp in the city.

An Israeli military spokesman confirmed that three militants from the Islamic Jihad group were killed in an operation.

''During the operation there was an exchange of fire in which an Israeli soldier was lightly wounded,'' he said.

Israeli and Palestinian security sources said one of the men killed was identified as Mohammed Abu Naaseh, a local Islamic Jihad leader.

Palestinian security sources added that two civilians including a 12-year old girl were also wounded in the operation.

Earlier, a hospital official said one of the three killed was a civilian taxi driver. But a Palestinian security source said he was in fact an Islamic Jihad militant.

Thousands of Palestinians marched in Jenin to protest the killings, vowing revenge.

The killings came as Israeli troops raided the West Bank city of Nablus today, resuming a search for militants on a list of wanted people, Palestinian security sources and the Israeli army said.

Palestinian security sources said dozens of military vehicles and hundreds of Israeli troops poured into Nablus's old town and had surrounded its three main hospitals, and declared a curfew confining thousands of people to their homes.

The Israeli military spokesman said: ''The target is still to damage to terrorist infrastructure in the city.'' He said that involved arresting wanted men and capturing weaponry and explosive materials.

The military incursion is the biggest Israel had mounted in the West Bank in months.

Palestinian security sources said Israeli forces detained a number of relatives of wanted men including the mother of Amin Lubbadeh, a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is affiliated to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement. The Israeli military said it was checking the report.

Palestinians said on Tuesday that Israel withdrew most of its forces from Nablus after a three-day raid. The Israeli military declined to comment on the report.

Islamic Jihad carried out a suicide bombing that killed three Israelis in January and has refused to commit to a Gaza truce which most militant groups agreed to in November. The group said it wanted the truce to extend to the West Bank.

Reuters PDM VP1324