5 suspected terrorists in custody in Jordan after fatal clash

A Jordanian official said five suspected terrorists were in custody after opening fire and setting off explosions that killed three members of the security forces and collapsed a multi-story building.

The clash late Saturday in the town of Salt raised new concerns about terrorists’ attempts to carry out large-scale attacks to destabilize the pro-Western kingdom.

The Hala Akhbar news website linked to Jordan’s military said on Sunday that the suspects are Jordanians and the cell planned to attack security installations and other sensitive targets.

Government spokeswoman Jumana Ghuneimat initially said three suspects were in custody, but later raised the number to five. Authorities did not provide details about their affiliation.

Events were set in motion Friday when assailants detonated a homemade bomb under patrol car at a music festival outside Amman killing one officer and wounding six others.

Later Saturday, security forces raided a house in Salt in search of a suspected “terrorist cell” believed to be behind Friday’s bombing, according to Ghneimat.

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“The suspects refused to surrender and opened heavy fire toward a joint security force,” she said in a statement.

The suspects also “blew up the building in which they were hiding, and which they had booby-trapped earlier,” Ghneimat’s statement said, adding that part of the building “collapsed” during the raid.

Three members of the security forces were killed in the shootout and several others, including civilians, were wounded, said Ghneimat, who is also minister of state for media affairs.

Ghneimat did not give details but local Jordanian media, quoting medical sources in Salt, said around 20 people were wounded in the operation.

The security forces eventually arrested three suspects, she said, adding that the operation in Salt was still “ongoing.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday’s bomb blast and the identity of the suspects in Salt was not immediately known.

Jordan has played a key role in the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State group in neighboring Syria and Iraq, using its air force against the jihadists and allowing coalition forces to use its bases.

The kingdom was hit by a string of jihadist attacks in 2016, including a suicide bombing in June that killed seven guards near the border with Syria that was claimed by IS.

Months later in December a shooting rampage, also claimed by IS, killed 10 people including a Canadian tourist.

On Saturday Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz vowed that Jordan would “not be complacent in the hunt for terrorists.”

“Jordan will always be at the forefront of the fight against terrorism and obscurantist ideas which target the lives of innocents and try to undermine security and stability,” he said in remarks carried by Petra.