GAZA CITY, July 18 (AFP) - Armed Palestinian militants set fire to the local offices of the military intelligence service in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis and released prisoners being held there, witnesses said Sunday.
The militants also seized weapons stored there, locals added.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed faction loyal to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in reaction to the appointment of Arafat's nephew Musa as new head of the general security service.
"We are announcing that we have dissolved the military intelligence service in Khan Yunis and our fighters now control the building," the group said in a statement received by AFP in Jerusalem.
"This is a clear message to the corrupt Musa Arafat that we will not allow his appoitment to pass and that he should resign," the statement added.
A statement from the office of the military intelligence service chief General Amin al-Hindi condemned the violence at Khan Yunis.
"What we are seeing is a result of the continuing frustration in the face of Israeli aggression," it said.