Last update - 00:00 14/08/2007
Two Hamas security men die in clash with powerful Gaza clan
By The Associated Press
Two Hamas security men died Tuesday in a fierce clash in Gaza with the powerful clan linked to the kidnapping of British journalist Alan Johnston.
Internal violence in Gaza has been largely eradicated since Hamas wrested control of the coastal strip in mid-June, declaring a new era of law and order.
But on Tuesday, security forces and members of the Doghmush clan traded rifle and grenade fire west of Gaza City. Hamas said in a cryptic statement that its forces came under fire while on a mission in the area. The Doghmushes said the fighting began after Hamas came to arrest a clansman and confiscate his car.
Ahab Ghussen, a spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza, said that seucrity forces had surrounded a house in which several clansmen had holed up. "We will not return to the era of chaos," he said.
The Doghmushes have ties to the Army of Islam, the shadowy group that held Johnston for four months before releasing him in July. The group was also involved in the June 2006 kidnapping of Israel Defense Forces Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who remains in captivity.