TEL AVIV, July 19: Three more Israeli soldiers accused of selling stolen ammunition to the Palestinians have been arrested, raising the number of suspects netted to nine, Israel’s public radio said on Friday.

It said the ammunition stolen from army stocks was smuggled through third parties to members of the Tanzim, Israel’s term for an armed group of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, or officials of his Palestinian Authority.

Military police, quoted by the radio, have not ruled out further arrests in the arms smuggling scandal.

After a long investigation, it was first revealed on Tuesday that four soldiers living in Jewish settlements near the southern West Bank city of Al Khalil had been taken into custody.

The arrests were carried out following tips on a vast smuggling operation of ammunition from Israel into the West Bank.

The investigation was launched following reports that ammunition theft from army bases rose by more than 110 per cent between 2000 and 2001, according to the top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily.

On Wednesday another two suspects were arrested, including another settler and a reserve major who press reports said was about to travel to Europe to take part in surveillance of an Israeli diplomatic mission.—AFP