A Border Policewoman who shot dead a knife-wielding female attacker in Hebron said Saturday that she acted “without hesitation” when her assailant tried to stab her in the neck.
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“The terrorist approached the post and asked for directions to a certain place in the area. I told her the name did not sound familiar and that she should ask the locals when she arrived, when to my surprise she pulled out a knife and tried to stab me in the neck,” said the sergeant, who has been identified only as M.
The policewoman was standing at the checkpoint at the entrance to the base near the Cave of the Patriarchs when the Saturday morning attack occurred.
The attacker only managed to hit M’s vest, causing minor injuries to the policewoman’s hand. “I took a step back and I shot the terrorist without hesitation,” M said, according to Channel 10 news. “I responded like any fighter in the Border Police would have done.”
She added: “I do not take pleasure in the fact that the incident ended in this way and not without casualties.”
The attacker was identified as 16-year-old Bian Asila, from Hebron.
M’s commander commended her for her bravery. “She did exactly what was expected of her.”
The incident was the third attempted stabbing attack of the day and the second in the West Bank city, a frequent flashpoint site where a few hundred Jews live in close proximity to tens of thousands of Palestinians.
It came just hours after two other separate stabbing attacks in Hebron and Jerusalem, in which both attackers were also killed.