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Bomber kills Hamas guard in rare attack on Gaza-Egypt border

By Ed Adamczyk
Palestinian members of Hamas security forces stop a vehicle at a security checkpoint in Rafah, on the Gaza-Egypt border, on Thursday. A suicide bomber killed a Hamas guard at the border, officials said, in what was seen as a rare attack against the Palestinian group. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI.
Palestinian members of Hamas security forces stop a vehicle at a security checkpoint in Rafah, on the Gaza-Egypt border, on Thursday. A suicide bomber killed a Hamas guard at the border, officials said, in what was seen as a rare attack against the Palestinian group. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI. | License Photo

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A Hamas security guard died Thursday when a suicide bomb was detonated as two men approached the Gaza-Egypt border, a government spokesman said.

Hamas, the Lebanese paramilitary organization regarded by many countries as a terrorist organization, is involved in security along the border at the request of the Egyptian government.

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The explosion occurred early Thursday as the suicide bomber, identified only as a Palestinian, and another person were arrested by Hamas forces near the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

Several other Hamas members were injured in the blast, a spokesman for the Hamas-backed Gazan Interior Ministry said.

Thursday marked the first time a Palestinian conducted a suicide bombing against Hamas security, the Jerusalem Post reported, adding that the bomber may have intended to detonate his explosives at a location in Egypt.

The Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Center reported that 28-year-old Nidal Jumaa al-Jaafari, a member of Hamas' armed wing, died in the rare attack against Hamas.

A Hamas statement said the attacker was a "suicide bomber with extremist views," a possible suggestion that he was a member of the Islamic State, the Israeli news website Haaretz reported. Hamas has long been accused of offering shelter to IS militants.

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