Two Israeli cops shot dead in West Bank

Two Israeli policemen have been shot dead in an attack near a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

"Two policemen who were travelling in the Jordan Valley were shot dead. According to the initial investigation it is an attack," Rosenfeld told AFP.

He said the attack took place near the Jewish settlement of Massua in the northern Jordan Valley yesterday.

An anonymous caller claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the "Imad Mughniyeh Group" in a telephone call to AFP.

The group is named after a Hezbollah commander who was killed by a car bomb in Damascus in February 2008 that was blamed on Israel.

It denied involvement. Police and the army sent reinforcements to the scene of the attack and a search began in a bid to track down the assailants, Rosenfeld said.

Haaretz newspaper reported on its website that one policeman was killed on the spot and that the other died of his wounds shortly after emergency services arrived.

Their car was found on Highway 90 which skirts the border with Jordan to the east. Police said the driver lost control when he was hit by gunfire.

The Jordan Valley shares a 70-km border with Jordan and represents a third of the West Bank which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.