From the Liveblog of
Monday, September 9, 2024
Jordan said to have thwarted plot to detonate boobytrapped truck at Allenby Bridge 6 weeks ago
Jordanian intelligence some six weeks ago thwarted a plan to place explosives on a truck and detonate it at the Allenby Bridge border crossing, Channel 12 reports.
The report, which cites non-Israeli sources, comes a day after a Jordanian truck driver shot dead three Israelis in a terrorist attack at the Allenby crossing.
Jordanian intelligence officials arrested four members of a cell in Salt, west of Amman a month and a half ago, the report says, and they led the officials to a weapons lab in which several explosive devices were found. Jordanian intelligence suspects the members of the cell intended to plant the devices on a truck and detonate it at the Allenby Bridge crossing.
The alleged terrorists were all Jordanian nationals, and the cell was formed locally, rather than being recruited by Iran, Hezbollah or other external forces.
Jordan did not publicize the incident in order to avoid triggering public protests, given anti-Israeli sentiment in the kingdom and anger that Jordan cooperates with Israel on security matters.
Channel 12 notes that Israeli sappers were seen checking the truck driven by the gunmen yesterday for more than an hour after the deadly attack to make sure it was not rigged with explosives.
The TV report notes that Jordan has also busted at least three cells in the past two months, recruited by Hezbollah via the internet, that were intended to carry out actions designed to destabilize the kingdom.
It notes that in June, Jordanian security forces announced they had uncovered and detonated explosives hidden in a commercial warehouse in an industrial area southeast of the capital Amman that they said was part of an Iran-linked plot to destabilize Jordan. That incident, Channel 12 says, involved “immense” quantities of explosives smuggled into Jordan by Iran.
It says Hezbollah has also been recruiting, via the internet, Palestinian cells in the northern West Bank — including Nablus, Jenin, and Tulkarm — also intended to act against Jordan.
