US refutes Jordan’s claim Americans sparked deadly shooting

American embassy in Hashemite kingdom says reports that military trainers disobeyed Jordanian orders are false

By Sam McNeil 17 November 2016, 4:34 pm

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In this Monday, November 7, 2016 file photo, an Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Sgt. 1st Class Matthew C. Lewellen past Army Secretary Eric Fanning, fifth from right, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Marcel Lettre, third from right, and Gen. Daniel B. Allyn, right, Army vice chief of staff, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The US Embassy in Jordan on Thursday refuted Amman’s claim that US trainers sparked a deadly shooting incident at a Jordanian military base this month by disobeying orders from Jordanians soldiers. The shooting killed three Americans.

The three slain Americans were assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. They were identified as 27-year-old Staff Sergeant Matthew C. Lewellen, of Lawrence, Kansas; 30-year-old Staff Sergeant Kevin J. McEnroe of Tucson, Arizona; and 27-year-old Staff Sergeant James F. Moriarty of Kerrville, Texas.

They died after the convoy they were in came under fire as it entered the al-Jafr air base in southern Jordan on November 4. The Americans were in Jordan on a training mission.

Embassy spokesman Eric Barbee told The Associated Press on Thursday that US investigators are considering all possible motives and “have not yet ruled out terrorism as a potential motive.”

Illustrative photo of a Jordanian soldier during a military drill in Amman, Jordan, on April 19, 2015 (AP/Raad Adayleh)

After the shooting, Jordan’s state news agency Petra reported that the slain American military trainers had disobeyed direct orders from Jordanian troops, which led to a deadly exchange of small-arms fire.

Barbee said there’s “absolutely no credible evidence” for the claim. Jordan later issued a different statement removing the claim.

Along with the three killed Americans, another American soldier was wounded, as well as the Jordanian soldier who was firing and remains unidentified.

File photo of Brett McGurk, US Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter IS (Islamic State), at a news conference in Amman, Jordan on May 15, 2016. (Khalil Mazraawi/AFP)

Later, Brett McGurk, White House envoy to the US-led coalition against Islamic State extremists, said Jordan’s King Abdullah II expressed condolences over the deaths of the Americans.

McGurk also said an investigation is ongoing and praised Jordan’s role in the fight against the Islamic State, which holds territory in neighboring Syria and Iraq.