Four IDF soldiers were wounded in the Tuesday afternoon 16 Adar II bomb attack against an armored IDF patrol vehicle along the northern border as was reported earlier. The attack occurred at about 14:30 Israel time.

Four paratroopers were injured including a deputy battalion commander. One of them reportedly sustained “very serious” injuries. The wounded were airlifted in an IAF chopper to the trauma unit of Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. Their armored patrol vehicle drove over a bomb in the area of Majdal Shams in the northern Golan Heights near the Syrian border. The deputy battalion commander and two other soldiers appear to have sustained moderate injuries.

A helicopter gunship and IDF artillery returned fire across the border at a Syrian outpost in the Quneitra area. The IDF instructed border area farmers to distance themselves from the area as a number of fighter planes were seen hovering over the area.

It should be added that when the bomb was detonated the IDF soldiers were outside the armored vehicle inspecting the area.

UPDATE 20:00 IL: It is now being reported that after the bomb was detonated, the IDF immediately responded with artillery fire to prevent attempts to abduct soldiers across the border. The investigation is seeking to establish if the bomb was detonated from a distance using a remote control.

The soldiers involved in the incident reported earlier they saw a shepherd in the area, prompting the patrol to check out the situation to verify there were no breaks in the security fence. When they got out of the armored vehicle then the bomb was detonated, at the time they were most vulnerable.

The most seriously wounded soldier is still undergoing emergency life-saving surgery.

Haifa Medical Center trauma center officials report that for the first time ever, they were told to prepare for three wounded and in actuality there were four soldiers, compelling them to dispatch a fourth ambulance to the heliport only after the evacuation chopper arrived. Hospital officials point out that Baruch Hashem the fourth soldier’s injuries were not serious.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)