Two Palestinians were killed and 13 others wounded Wednesday in a car bomb attack at the Israeli checkpoint at Qalandiyah, between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah, Israeli security forces said.

The wounded included seven Israeli border policemen and six Palestinians, the sources added.

Hospital officials said all of the Israeli casualties are Border Police officers. Two of them are in serious condition, one in moderate condition and four are lightly hurt.

The injured Israelis were evacuated to Hadassah University Hospital and Shaare Tzedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. The six Palestinians were taken to a hospital in Ramallah.

Reports said that the explosion was caused by a suicide car bomber who drove south from the direction of Ramallah to a temporary checkpoint set up by security forces between Qalandiyah and nearby A-Ram.

Five other vehicles were damaged in the blast.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, armed wing of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the attack was in revenge for the killing of one of its leaders a month ago.

An earlier report from Ramallah said the two killed Palestinians were the Palestinian suicide bomber whose identity is not known and a 60-year-old Palestinian bystander, a resident of east Jerusalem.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2004)