‘Suicide attacks’ kill Canadian woman, 9 others in Jordan

Ten people — seven policemen and three civilians, including a female Canadian tourist — were killed on Sunday in a terrorist attack on several police stations near a popular tourist site in Karak, police said.
A Jordanian police statement e-mailed to Arab News said four of the attackers were killed and 34 people including security personnel, civilians and tourists were injured after gunmen ambushed Jordanian police in a series of attacks on Sunday, including at a Crusader castle popular with tourists.
The statement identified the Canadian citizen as Linda Jesse Fitcher.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, condemned “in the strongest terms” the attack in Jordan’s Karak province.
King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent a cable of condolences addressed to Jordanian King Abdallah expressing sorrow at the loss of lives in Karak.
They expressed full solidarity with the Jordanian Kingdom and wished a speedy recovery for all the injured.
“The attack started on Sunday at noon when police officers responded to a call informing the police call center of gunfire in a building. Upon arriving at the scene, the police patrol came under fire from an unknown armed group. The police responded with gunfire and the perpetrators fled the scene,” the statement said. Police added that in a related incident other unidentified gunmen started shooting at a police patrol positioned in the center of the city of Karak. No injuries were reported in that incident.
The statement also said that a police station next to Karak Castle, a popular tourist attraction, came under fire from inside the castle, resulting in the injury of several policemen and civilian passersby, who were later transferred to nearby hospitals for medical treatment.
Special Forces troops surrounded the area and exchanged gunfire with the gunmen, believed to be six, according to the police statement.
Eyewitnesses said that several tourists and policemen were held inside the castle, unable to leave because of the heavy fire.
Five hours later, the police secured a safe passage for them.
Speaking to Aljazeera TV on the phone while trapped inside the castle, Saed Haddadin, a tourist guide, said the shooters were atop the castle and were shooting at everything that moved. The police confirmed later that all people held inside the castle were freed.
Prime Minister Hani Mulki, addressing members of Parliament, said that Jordan’s special forces had surrounded an area in the city where five or six of the suspected attackers were holed up. The prime minister added that there was no information about the attackers or their motives, but he described them as “outlaws.”
Government spokesman Mohammad Al Momani told Arab News on the phone that the terrorists randomly targeted civilians.
A separate police statement said that “a number of outlaws who committed ugly crimes this afternoon” had been killed and that security forces were combing the Crusader castle for more gunmen.
Videos released by Karak residents and posted on local news websites showed tribal leaders and young townsmen holding rifles and aiding the police in the hunt for the gunmen near the castle.
Karak, a mountainous city of around 170,000 people, is a popular tourist destination with the ruins of its fortified town and castle sitting 900 meters above sea level.
The Jordanian state news agency Petra said security forces were “handling the situation” amid reports on social media that the government had dispatched extra forces including helicopters to deal with the attack.
Political and military expert, former General Faye Dweiri, said he believed the shooters are affiliated with Al-Qaeda or Daesh.
“Those terrorist groups have committed terrorist acts in the Kingdom before and have sleeper cells in the Kingdom,” he said from Amman. “They aim to give a big blast to the Jordanian stability and the tourism sector.”
The US Embassy in Amman said in a statement on Sunday that, “It had received reports about an ongoing ‘active shooter’ security incident in Karak, Jordan, about 130 km south of Amman. According to media reports, several gunmen opened fire on local police patrols in and around the area of the Karak Castle tourist site. We urge individuals to please avoid that area for the time being. Please monitor the news for further developments and maintain security awareness.”

Source: Arab News