A US-made assault rifle M-16 was discovered early Wednesday morning by an Israel Police Border Guard unit at the Tapuach Junction in Samaria, some 30 miles north of Jerusalem and east of Tel Aviv.
On Wednesday, according to the police spokesperson, a Border Guard unit operating at the Tapuach Junction received a GSS alert that an Arab bus headed from Ramallah to Shechem had on board a terrorist who was carrying an illegal weapon.
The unit stopped the bus at the junction and searched the bags in the luggage compartment, discovering the M-16 assault rifle. The suspect, 20, a resident of the Balata refugee camp outside Shechem, was seated among the 45 passengers. He was arrested and taken for an interrogation by security forces.
The M-16, originally manufactured for the US military, is a lightweight, 5.56 mm, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed assault rifle, with a rotating bolt. Its light recoil, high-velocity and flat trajectory allow shooters to take head shots out to 300 yards.
Israel Police noted the tight, real-time collaboration between security forces which has been producing numerous operational success against terrorists.