Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinian gunmen in W. Bank

NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed two Palestinian gunmen on Tuesday during a raid in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian militant group and the Israeli army said.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, announced the deaths over loudspeakers in the city of Nablus, a militant stronghold in which Israeli security forces often mount operations to detain wanted men.

An Israeli army spokeswoman in Tel Aviv said an Israeli force carrying out what she described as routine activity in Nablus fired at a group of armed men, hitting two of them.

"A group of gunmen opened fire at forces operating in the Nablus area and a gunbattle ensued in which two of the gunmen belonging to Fatah were killed," the spokeswoman said.

She added that she was not aware of any other casualties on the Palestinian side.

A local hospital said it received the bodies of two Palestinians killed in the incident.