April 20, 2012

TUBAS (Ma'an) -- Israeli soldiers shot an 18-year-old shepherd in the chest on Thursday evening during military training exercises in the northern West Bank, medics said.

Yasir Suleiman Nijad Kaabnah was shot while herding sheep and camels near Wadi al-Maleh in the northern Jordan Valley, medics told Ma'an.

Salem Kaabneh, the victim's uncle who was with him when he was shot, told Ma'an that Israeli troops who were training in the area fired at Suleiman injuring him in the chest.

Medical officials said soldiers refused to help the wounded teenager and he was taken in a private car to hospital in Tubas. He was transferred to Rafadea Hospital in Nablus, where he is in a critical condition in intensive care.

An Israeli military spokeswoman was not immediately familiar with the incident.

Palestinian Authority police have opened an investigation into the shooting.

The local village council said Israeli military training in the area had caused several casualties because shepherds were not warned when or where the exercises would take place.

The council urged human rights groups to pressure the Israeli army not to train near civilian populations.

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