Israeli troops kill Palestinian gunman

Israeli troops shot dead a wanted Palestinian militant Sunday in a shootout in the West Bank town of Tulkarem, the Israeli military said.

The army said troops were on an operation to arrest the man when he shot at them, lightly wounding a soldier. The troops returned fire, killing the man, the military said.

The dead man Majed Al Ashkar, was initially reported to be a a local leader of the radical Islamic Jihad group, but was later said to be a militant from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, linked to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. Islamic Jihad said several members of the Al Ashkar family are active in its ranks, leading to the initial confusion, AP reports.

A. A.