Major Cengiz Soytunc and Catherine Berruex

Mar 26, 2002 - Major Cengiz Soytunc of Turkey and Catherine Berruex, of Switzerland, members of the TIPH observer force in Hebron, were killed in an ambush shooting by a Palestinian gunman near Halhul.

The shooting occured at approximately 8:30 PM, west of the Halhul bridge. Three members of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) were riding westward on the Trans-Judea highway when they came under fire from short range, although their car was clear marked with the letters TIPH.

Captain Huseyin Ozaslan, also from Turkey, who was injured in the attack, related that he clearly saw the attacker, who was wearing the uniform of the PA's security forces and was carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle. "We shouted that we are observers, members of TIPH," he said. "But he did not hear us and continued to shoot."