Gunmen explode bomb at Gaza-Egypt border fence
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-04 10:33

Palestinian gunmen exploded a bomb beneath the Gaza-Egypt border fence on Wednesday saying it was to press for the release of a suspect held by Palestinian police for the kidnappings of three Britons, witnesses said.

The bomb failed to puncture the concrete barricade, and the gunmen of the al-Aqsa Martyears Brigades quickly fled the scene.

It was the first attack on the barrier since just after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last September and signalled a new escalation in lawlessness that has shaken the coastal strip since Israeli troops left.

The unrest could force a delay of a January 25 parliamentary election.

The gunmen of the al-Aqsa Martyears Brigades had earlier forced their way into three Palestinian government offices in the border town of Rafah to demand that Palestinian police free a member arrested by undercover troops late on Tuesday night.

The Britons, including an aid worker and her parents, were released on Friday after two days in captivity in an abduction claimed by a previously unknown group calling itself the Brigades of the Mujahideen-Jerusalem.