Seven dead as bodies pulled from rubble in Jordan shoot-out

Jordanian search teams pulled the bodies of three suspected militants from the rubble of their hideout yesterday, a government official said.

The search came hours after assailants opened fire and set off explosions that killed four members of the security forces trying to storm the building.

The clash late on Saturday was among the deadliest between suspected militants and Jordanian security forces in recent years.

It raised new concerns about attempts by domestic and foreign militants to carry out attacks and destabilise the pro-western kingdom.

Jordan has played a key role in an international military coalition that helped push back the extremist group Islamic State in neighbouring Syria and Iraq.

The chain of events in Jordan began on Friday when assailants detonated a homemade bomb under a police car guarding a music festival in the predominantly Christian town of Fuheis, west of the capital of Amman.

The blast, labelled a terrorist attack by Jordan’s prime minister, killed a police officer.

Jordanian authorities did not say what motivated the Fuheis attackers, and there was no claim of responsibility.

Security forces chasing the suspects zeroed in on a multistory building in the town of Salt, near Fuheis, and attempted to storm it late on Saturday.

The suspects holed up inside opened fire and set off powerful explosions, officials said. A wing of the building collapsed.

In initial statements, government spokeswoman Jumana Ghuneimat said three members of the security forces were killed.

She said yesterday that a fourth officer had died and that the bodies of three suspects were pulled from the rubble. Five suspects are in custody.

The Hala Akhbar news website linked to Jordan’s military said the suspects are Jordanians and that the cell had planned to attack security installations and other sensitive targets. The site said the suspects had been armed with explosives, grenades and weapons.

In June 2016, a cross-border car bombing launched from Syria killed seven Jordanian border guards. In December 2016, a shootout at a crusader castle in the southern town of Karak left 14 people dead, including seven members of the security forces, four militants and three civilians.

Jordan is considered an important security ally, particularly by the United States and Israel, which view any signs of unrest there with concern.

The kingdom has cracked down on suspected militants in recent years, imposing prison terms of several years for suspected sympathisers, including those expressing support for militant ideologies on social media.