A suicide attacker detonated a auto bomb on Tuesday in the border buffer zone between Jordan and Syria, killing six Jordanian officers and injuring 14 others.
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Shocked Jordanians held vigils to mourn the soldiers killed in the vehicle bomb attack, which exploded in a desolate area where the borders of Iraq, Syria and Jordan meet.
The Jordanian army says other vehicles deployed in the attack were destroyed, and that in addition to the six fatalities, 14 people were injured.
The United States strongly condemns today’s attack on Jordanian security forces, and expresses its deepest condolences to the victims, their families, and the Jordanian people.
He indicated that some ISIS terrorists and smugglers are in the area where the attack took place and they pose a threat not only to Jordanians but to worldwide organizations which are there. A suspect was arrested but details of the attack have been kept under a gag order while the investigation continues.
Jordan-based global aid officials confirmed Wednesday that the border area was sealed and that they couldn’t send aid there.
Until now no group has taken responsibility of the attack.
Jordan said its security comes first.
Jordan is a member of the USA -led military coalition fighting IS, and has fortified its border defenses, including with US -funded surveillance systems.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II has said his government would respond with “an iron fist” and the border crossings were yesterday sealed.
Jordan hosts hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and thousands more have been stranded at the frontier since January.
Jordan’s refusal to allow the refugees to move further inside its territory has been criticised by the office of the United Nations high commissioner for refugees.
The bomb targeted a forward military post that offers help to Syrian refugees stuck in the no-man’s land separating the countries, the army said in a statement on its Facebook page.
UNHCR representative Andrew Harper said he was not aware of any Syrian asylum-seekers being hurt in Tuesday’s attack.
The early morning attack was the latest by extremists against the kingdom, where authorities are struggling to cope with the overspill from the conflicts in Iraq and Syria.
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Abdullah – who continues to enjoy strong support from Jordan’s six million people – faces a hard dilemma domestically on how to react to the latest bloodshed, analysts said.
