Security forces investigating reports of kidnapped soldier
Female soldier tells her commander that she saw two civilians pushing a soldier into a car near a base next to Ben Gurion Airport.

by Maayana Miskin, Arutz Sheva
August 13, 2009

Border policemen check cars on Route 443 between
Jerusalem and Modi'in on Thursday.
 

Traffic jams were reported late on Thursday afternoon throughout the Central District and the Jerusalem area. Traffic was particularly heavy on Highway 443, at the entrance to Petach Tikva, near Maaleh Adumim, and between the cities of Jerusalem and Modiin.

The backup was caused by temporary checkpoints throughout the area. Drivers reported seeing an unusually large number of police vehicles throughout the afternoon.

It was later revealed that police fear a soldier was kidnapped in the Tel Aviv area. A soldier reported that she witnessed a male soldier being forced into a car.

Police have been stopping traffic from the Central District into Samaria, while simultaneously investigating the initial report.

A police helicopter circled over the Tel Aviv area throughout the day. In the afternoon, police confirmed that security-related operations were taking place in the Central District, but did not give details.

Police occasionally set up makeshift checkpoints along major Israeli roads in response to terrorist alerts or other security threats. However, checkpoints are usually set up to check vehicles traveling from Samaria to the Tel Aviv area, and not those moving in the opposite direction.

UPDATE

Israel on alert as soldier reportedly captured.
 

The IDF was reviewing the reliability of the soldier's testimony, while police scrambled helicopters to join ground units trying to prevent the alleged kidnappers from fleeing the region.

The Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported that a previously unknown group calling itself the "Al-Quds Army" claimed responsibility for the reported capture in a statement sent to it.

"A group of our resistance fighters captured an Israeli soldier near Ben Gurion Airport and withdrew with the soldier without incident … we will provide details about the captured soldier later," the statement quoted on Ma'an's Web site said.

The agency further reported that "reliable Israeli sources" said that there was a state of alert in response to a phone call from a soldier who said he had been captured.