After the stabbing, the terrorist, 16-year-old Ahmed Taj was shot and killed by security forces.

Following the attack, the Border Police officer who shot the terrorist described the incident.

“Out of nowhere a Palestinian appeared and started stabbing one of the soldiers in my squad. In a split second we understood that this was a terrorist attack and I knew that I had to act quickly and I took the shot in order to neutralize the terrorist,” he said.

“When there is a series of events that lasts only a few seconds, there is no time to hesitate and one has to use precise judgement and act immediately. That is how fighters are taught in the Border Police and I am happy that in this case the terrorist was neutralized before he was able to achieve his goal,” he added.

Border Policemen at scene of West Bank stabbing, August 15, 2015, – Photo courtesy: Israel Police

Earlier in the day, an IDF soldier was stabbed in a terror attack on highway 443, near Beit Horon in the Binyamin Regional Council, West of Ramallah. The victim was lightly injured in the assault and is currently being treated.

The stabber in that attack, Mahmoud Nasim Yousef Gumhouriyya, a resident of Beit Annan in Ramallah, was reportedly lightly wounded following the attack.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Saturday evening praised the security forces who neutralized the two attackers, and said that “anyone that tries to harm IDF soldiers or Border Police officers, should know that they are taking their lives into their own hands.”

“The fight against Palestinian terror, both the organized and “lone wolf” types, is complex and required an iron hand, cool manner and good judgment, and this is how we act,” Ya’alon said.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi) said of the attack on highway 443 that “the Palestinians are morally bankrupt if these are their new heroes: terrorists who ask for water from soldiers and then reward them by trying to murder them with a knife.”

The Zionist Union released a statement following the two terror attacks and commended the security forces for their rapid responses and their “round-the-clock work to secure Israel and its citizens.”

“We cannot let terror rear its head. The prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] must return the security to Israeli citizens,” the statement read.

Following the stabbing on Saturday evening Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement that he held the Israeli government responsible for the shooting death of the Palestinian.

“The crime was a continuation of the daily killing which no one can be silent at,” said the statement, which was published by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Earlier this week, another stabbing attack on highway 443 took place at the Dor Alon gas station. A 26 year old Israeli man was lightly injured in the attack. The IDF shot one suspect, killing him at the scene.

Khaled Abu Toameh and Reuters contributed to this report.

View original The Jerusalem Post publication at:
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Border-Police-officer-lightly-injured-in-stabbing-in-W-Bank-terrorist-in-critical-condition-412192