Next-door neighbor Soha Ekmel, who was up early to prepare for Suhur — the morning meal before the day-long fast for the holy month of Ramadan — said troops entered her home and took her husband, Khaled.
“They told his (Sawalha’s) wife to tell him to come out. I heard her say ‘Iyad, please come out, they’re threatening to kill me if you don’t.’ There was no answer, and they asked Khaled to do the same,” Ekmel told The Associated Press. The army would not comment on the report.
At one point Sawalha lobbed a hand grenade toward the troops, lightly injuring two soldiers. After a drawn-out gunbattle Sawalha was shot and killed. Sawalha’s wife and Khaled Ekmel were taken away, Soha Ekmel said.