Israeli Troops Kill 3 Arabs in Attack at Jordan Border

Israeli troops killed three Arabs who infiltrated from Jordan and attacked a bus carrying soldiers today in Israel’s southern desert, the military command said.

Four Israelis were slightly injured, it said.

Defense Minister Moshe Arens said Jordan was responsible for preventing such attacks, but Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir added a calming note of hope that attacks from Jordan would cease once the Gulf War ends.

“This isn’t the first incident of its kind on the Jordan border,” Shamir told Israel radio. “I wouldn’t say that this points to the future that will come after the war. . . . I could imagine that after the war our borders will be completely quiet.”

Israeli military forces have pounded Palestinians in Lebanon repeatedly the last week for launching Katyusha rockets that fell short of Israeli territory. However, Israel has not retaliated for the occasional attacks from Jordan, its eastern neighbor.

A military statement said today’s attack happened about 7 a.m. on the main highway from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to the Red Sea.

The chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Shomron, visited the scene with Arens and later told reporters in Tel Aviv that the three Arabs “looked like religious extremists” and carried AK-47 assault rifles.

He said soldiers in a bus that came under attack “barely managed to fire because an army unit from the area immediately went into action and within a very short time killed the terrorists.”

Israel radio said the guerrillas were aged 18 to 28, wore civilian clothes and carried prayer books.

Witnesses said at least five busloads of travelers hid in a dry river bed while the gunfight raged.