Palestinian security chief gunned down in Jeni

NABLUS - Agence France-Presse

A Palestinian man looks at long dresses put on display on August 16, 2012 outside a clothing shop in the West Bank city of Nablus where Muslims started shopping for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday. Muslims around the world are preparing to celebrate Eid al-Fitr at the end of this week, to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. AFP PHOTO/ JAAFAR ASHTIYEH

Unknown assailants shot dead a senior officer in the Jenin branch of the Palestinian security forces in the northern West Bank city, a Palestinian security official told AFP Wednesday.
 
"Unknown assailants opened fire on Hisham Rokh, 41, deputy head of the preventative security forces in Jenin, shortly after midnight as he was returning home in his car," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
 
He said Rokh had been critically wounded by six bullets and "died moments after arriving at hospital." An investigation has been opened into the shooting, he added.
 
Rokh was a member of the Fatah party of president Mahmud Abbas and head of the popular committee which provides services in Jenin refugee camp.
 
The shooting took place two months after gunmen shot and wounded Fatah MP Shami al-Shami in the city, in another overnight shooting.
 
A similar gun attack in May on the home of Governor Qadura Mussa caused him to have a fatal heart attack.
 
The latest shooting stoked fears over the security situation in Jenin, which was once hailed as the most successful example of a Palestinian Authority campaign to restore calm to lawless areas of the West Bank.
 
Authorities in the city have declared a crackdown on unlicensed weapons and rounded up dozens of people, prompting locals to accuse security officials of using excessive force and detaining people unfairly.
 
In May alone, more than 70 people were arrested, a third of whom were members of the security forces or had once belonged to militant groups.
 
In April 2011, Juliano Mer-Khamis, the Israeli-Palestinian director of the Freedom Theatre, was shot dead in the city's refugee camp by unknown gunmen.