Breaking, more to follow.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Assailants armed with heavy weapons, guns and explosives launched three attacks in quick succession in southern Israel near the border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Thursday, killing at least five people and wounding about a dozen more, officials said.

The rare violence in that part of the country targeted a passenger bus, a military patrol and a private car, officials said.

Channel 10 TV reported a fourth attack by gunmen, but there was no official confirmation or details. The military said a “large number” of assailants were working in multiple squads.

“We are talking about a terror squad that infiltrated into Israel,” said Israeli military spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich. “This is a combined terrorist attack against Israelis.”

Israeli security forces tracked down some of the assailants and are engaged in an ongoing gunbattle with them, Mordechai said. The attackers fired mortars and an anti-tank missile, he said. The military spokesman’s office said a roadside bomb was detonated when a military patrol arrived at the scene of the bus attack and drove over the device.

Mordechai said the nature of the attack indicated that it had been well planned.