WAR OF NERVES

Evening Star, Issue 26043, 6 March 1947, Page 7

WAR OF NERVES

TERRORISTS’ NEW TACTICS NOISE AND CONFUSION IN JERUSALEM (Rep. noon.) JERUSALEM, March 5. A bomb exploded in a car park in Haifa this afternoon, destroying the adjacent tax assessment building and its guarding gun emplacement, and slightly damaging two private homes. There were no casualties. The police state that guards had a few. moments earlier discovered explosives in the car park and diverted traffic round the area. The bomb is believed to have been a time bomb. An explosion heard all over Jerusalem to-night occurred in the cordoned area of Mea Sherim, which is under martial law. Red and green flares illuminated all Jerusalem, while the sound of grenades bursting and machine guns in sporadic bursts echoed over the hills. Troops rushed to stand-to positions while the noise and lights provided a spectacular demonstration of the Irgun Zvai Leumi’s determination to wage a war of nerves, despite the military restrictions,. Sirens halted all traffic and brought the city to a standstill. The only casualty reported was a lance-corporal, who was wounded when grenades struck a jeep in the Street of The Prophets. Terrorists made other grenade attacks against British police patrol cars, ' and the Army reported that the roads were mined round the British security area centred on the Eyrian Orphanage. The all-clear sounded after more than an hour’s confusion. The bomb which destroyed the tax office was found when* .the fuse was already burning. A Tax Department clerk and a sentry rushed to safety as the bomb exploded," destroying the building with a shattering roar.