Israeli Troops Raid Nablus, Start Curfew

Palestinian youths throw stones toward an Israeli Army vehicle during clashes in the old City at the West Bank town of Nablus, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed) (Majdi Mohammed - AP)

NABLUS, West Bank -- Dozens of Israeli jeeps and armored vehicles raided the West Bank city of Nablus Sunday and placed tens of thousands of Palestinians under curfew.

The army said troops had on Saturday, at the start of the operation to arrest suspected militants, uncovered an explosives laboratory in the city and that soldiers had been shot at in several places and returned fire. No injuries were reported on either side.

About 80 jeeps backing several bulldozers entered the city, witnesses said. The bulldozers pushed rubble into piles on main roads to make them impassable, they said. Troops placed about 50,000 people under curfew in the center of Nablus and closed the main entrance to the city, witnesses said.

Jeeps blocked entries to two main hospitals in the city, said a doctor, Ghassan Hamdan.

Schools and a university in the city announced that they had canceled studies due to the curfew.