Report: Autopsy shows Gaza activists were shot a total of 30 times
Nine Turkish activists killed in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound ship, including one with U.S. citizenship, were shot a total of 30 times and five died of gunshot wounds to the head, Britain's Guardian newspaper says.
By Reuters Tags: Gaza flotilla Turkey
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Turkish TV shows coffins aboard the Mavi Marmara, a Gaza-bound ship raided by Israel, June 4, 2010 |
| Photo by: AP |
Nine Turkish activists killed in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship were shot a total of 30 times and five died of gunshot wounds to the head, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Friday.
Autopsy results showed the men were hit mostly with 9mm bullets, many fired at close range, the Guardian said, quoting Yalcin Buyuk, vice-chairman of the Turkish council of forensic medicine which carried out the autopsies on Friday.
Israeli commandos stormed a flotilla of aid ships planning to break the Israeli sea blockade of Gaza on Monday. The deaths, which all took place on one ship, the Mavi Marmara, drew widespread condemnation.
Israel said the marines who rappelled onto the Mavi Marmara fired in self-defense after activists attacked them with clubs and knives as well as two pistols snatched from the commandos.
The autopsy results showed that a 60-year-old man, Ibrahim Bilgen, was shot four times in the temple, chest, hip and back, the Guardian said.
A 19-year-old, named as Fulkan Dogan, who also has U.S. citizenship, as shot five times from less than 45 cm away, in the face, the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back, it said.
Two other men were shot four times. Five of those killed were shot either in the back of the head or in the back, the Guardian quoted Buyuk as saying.
In addition to those killed, 48 others suffered gunshot wounds and six activists were still missing, he added.
Israel said the multiple gunshot wounds did not mean the shots were fired other than in self defense.
"The only situation when a soldier shot was when it was a clearly a life-threatening situation," the Guardian quoted a spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London as saying.
"Pulling the trigger quickly can result in a few bullets being in the same body, but does not change the fact they were in a life-threatening situation," the spokesman said.
The newspaper quoted Haluk Ince, chairman of the council of forensic medicine in Istanbul, as saying that in only one case was there a single bullet wound, to the forehead from a distant shot, while every other body showed multiple wounds.
He said all but one of the bullets retrieved from the bodies came from 9mm rounds. Of the other round, Ince said: "It was the first time we have seen this kind of material used in firearms.
"It was just a container including many types of pellets usually used in shotguns. It penetrated the head region in the temple
and we found it intact in the brain."
No-one at Turkey's forensic laboratory could immediately be reached for comment.
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The autopsy also showed many were shot in the back of the head or their backs. Best of the best my ass - typically cowardly IDF behaviour, they excel at shooting people from behind or at a distance.
that they were forced to defend their lives in the fight against mercenaries trained in hand to hand combat and whose intent was to kill Jews,send them back to Auschwitz. IDF videos show they were not ordinary delivery boys and it's clear they wanted to sneak into Gaza to fight and help Arabs with silent consent of organizers and leftists on the board.
" Five of those killed were shot either in the back of the head or in the back, " How is someone running away from you a threat justifying use of lethal force.
Too many bullets. Waste.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOGG_osOoVg&feature=channel
5 of the dead were shot in the back or back the head. The ONLY way you shoot someone in the back is if they are running away from you. This is most disturbing and does not fit with the official line of "self defense". We need some answers.
Why not go to the guardian and read their talk backs. They are direct from Germany circa 1940
So what? Should they have killed them with velvet-covered bullets, no more than three per guy, and with a nice card saying "Sorry for the inconvenience"?
Of course they were shot multiple times considering the cirucmstances. The nonsense papers like the Guardian come with is unbelievable. Typically yellow journalism. They say they were shot multiple time but don't say what that implies in their mind
What does it matter how many times they were shot -the issue is were they shot in self defense
The story seems to be critical of the fact that the assailants were 1. shot on the average of 4 times each, 2. shot at close range, and 3. were shot in the head. What is the problem here? A 9 mm pistol is not a particularly powerful weapon, so it takes a few. The nutters were clubbing and stabbing so of course it was close range. Would you rather be shot in the head and go peacefully, or suffer a bullet in the liver or the gizzard? I say, good marksmanship under difficult circumstances.
You seem to praise pirates with "good marksmanship" who entered a ship in international waters and shot dead 9 and wounded 48 others. Is this the Rambo School of Logic that you come from? As a Turkish Jew, I am ashamed to say that the world sees that the Israeli Navy was out of control.
You seem to praise pirates with "good marksmanship" who entered a ship in international waters and shot dead 9 and wounded 48 others. Is this the Rambo School of Logic that you come from? As a Turkish Jew, I am ashamed to say that the world sees that the Israeli Navy was out of control.
Notice the bit about how five of them were shot in the back or the back of the head? Does that clarify matters?
You are a real piece of work. Glad to see that you have respect for human life.
the assailants were the nutters who came onto the innocent gift bearers ship.
When troops panic due to a dangerous situation they tend to unload a lot of ammo. Hence the reason that the UK adopted the SLR and not selective fire.