By Taylor Luck and William Booth November 9 at 11:13 AM
AMMAN, Jordan — A Jordanian police officer opened fire Monday at a U.s.-backed
training center, killing at least four people including two American contractors, officials
said. The gunman also was killed.
The shootings appeared to mark a return of terrorism-linked bloodshed as Jordan marked
the 10th anniversary of deadly hotel bombings.
No additional details were immediately known about the killings, including the identities
or roles Of those slain. Jordan's minister Of information, Mohammed Momani, said a
South African and a Jordanian civil employee were among the dead.
At least five others, including two Americans and three Jordanians, were wounded. One
of the Americans was listed in "serious condition," said Momani, according to the state-
run Petra news agency.
Also unclear was any direct connection to the anniversary of coordinated suicide
bombings that killed 60 people and injured more than 100 on Nov. 9, 2005, at three
hotels in Jordan's capital, Amman. Al-Qaeda's branch in Iraq said it carried out the 2005
attacks in retaliation for Jordan's pro-Western policies.
The U.S. Embassy in Amman condemned the shooting. "The investigation is ongoing and
it is premature to speculate on motive at this point," the embassy said Monday in a
statement.
Jordan's government-owned al-Rai newspaper described the Americans as contractors
but gave no further details. It also identified the attacker as veteran police officer Anwar
Bani Abdu, who served as a captain in the Jordanian criminal investigation department
before being transferred to the police training academy.
Jordan is a key Western ally and part of the U.s.-led coalition against the Islamic State.
But the latest violence marks another blow to Jordan's status as a haven Of relative
stability amid upheavals in neighboring Iraq and Syria.
In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said U.S. officials were "in
contact" with Jordanian authorities after the shootings. Kirby said Jordanian officials
have "offered their full support."
Kirby, however, gave no additional details on the incident.
President Obama said American officials are taking the attack "very seriously" and will
work closely with Jordan for a full investigation. Obama spoke during a meeting with
visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose nation has a peace treaty
with Jordan.
Jordan runs two highly regarded police training facilities outside the capital. The U.S.-
funded Jordan International Police Training Center is currently instructing police officers
who serve in Iraq, Libya and the Palestinian areas of the West Bank. About 75,000
trainees have passed through the facilities.
The Jordan International Police Training Center was established in October 2003 through
an agreement between Jordan and the then-provisional government Of Iraq, according to
a U.S. State Department document. The U.S. government compensates Jordan for the
costs to run the center.
Previous estimates by Jordanian and U.S. officials place the total number of U.S. military
and police trainers in Jordan at around 1,000, stationed at air bases, army bases and the
police training center.
Over the past two years, Jordan and the United States also have been involved in a
problem-plagued training program for Syrian rebel forces that failed to produce an
effective fighting force. Washington last month shifted policies to concentrate on
assisting militiamen, including Syrian Kurds, who have experience battling the Islamic
State.
The attack marks the first deadly strikes against envoys linked to U.S. programs in Jordan
since USAID official Lawrence Foley was gunned down in an Amman suburb by al-Qaeda
sympathizers in 2002.
Jordan was drawn deeper into the fight against the Islamic State in February after the
militants released a video showing a captured Jordanian pilot being burned alive (61in a
cage. The incident sparked widespread anger and revulsion in Jordan and led Jordan's
king, Abdullah Il, to vow "relentless" strikes against Islamic State.
In retaliation for the murder of its pilot, Jordan hanged two convicted terrorists who had
ties to the Islamic State. One of those executed was Saiida al-Rishawi171, an Iraqi
militant, for her role in the 2005 bombings at the hotels. Rishawi was captured after her
suicide belt failed to detonate. Islamic State militants were demanding her release before
she was put to death.
Jordan has also cracked down on anyone who waves Islamic State flags or expresses
support for the group on the Internet.
Jordanian authorities say the country harbors more than 1.3 million Syrian refugees,
630,000 of whom are registered by the United Nations. Jordan also is home to more than
100,000 Iraqis who have fled conflict in their homeland.
American-linked military and police training sites have faced attacks in the Middle East
and elsewhere. The assailants have included officials involved in the training and others
posing as members of the facility
In February, Islamic State militants wearing Iraqi military uniforms 181tried to storm an
air base used by U.S. military advisers to train Iraqi security forces. U.S. officials said
most of the attackers were killed.
Response: This
article is originally about a shooting that happened in Jordan recently, but a
lot of what is in this article talks about the past issues occurring between
the Islamic State and Jordan over the past decade or so. There seem to have
been multiple attacks of this sort for the same kind of reason, although this
one happens to be the anniversary of the hotel bombings in Jordan in 2005. The author or publisher seems to have some bias towards Jordan and the U.S's work there. This article revealed lots
of revenge and distrust between Jordan and the Islamic State, and rightfully
so.
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