Suspected Bat Yam bus bomber nabbed 5 months after botched attack
Military says Palestinian terror suspect was wounded by explosion in Nablus that set off 19-hour manhunt ending in his arrest
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Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
A Palestinian terrorist suspected of being behind a botched bus bombing attack in central Israel in February was detained Wednesday by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Nablus, the IDF, Shin Bet and police announced.
In the attack on February 20, three empty buses exploded in quick succession in parking lots in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon, and two more unexploded devices were discovered on additional buses in Holon. No casualties were caused.
Abed al-Karim Snober, who is accused of carrying out the attack, was detained following a months-long manhunt, the IDF and Shin Bet said.
According to the military, an explosion Tuesday in Nablus that was likely caused by the terrorist handling additional explosive devices in his possession, led forces to the apartment where he was hiding. The IDF said Snober was wounded and fled the site.
Overnight, IDF troops, Border Police officers and Shin Bet agents led a 19-hour pursuit after the terrorist, at the end of which he was detained.
The military said Wednesday that during scans at the building where the explosion occurred a day earlier, forces found additional primed explosive devices and destroyed them.
The arrest of Snober came after military prosecutors filed an indictment in April against a Palestinian man on suspicion of helping carry out the bus bombings, identifying him at the time as the brother of the suspected terrorist accused of planting the explosives.
A month earlier, the Police Prosecutions Division filed an indictment against a resident of Holon who transported the bomb-planting terrorist to Bat Yam.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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