Amman-A auto bombing near a Jordanian army post on the sealed border with war-ravaged Syria killed six members of Jordan’s security forces and wounded 14 on Tuesday in what the military called a “cowardly terrorist attack”.
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The army said in a statement that the dawn bombing killed four border guards, one member of the security services and one member of the civil defense.
“Jordan has always warned from the increase in Syrians’ numbers at the borders, especially since it has amounted to 100,000 people, most of whom are from northern and northeastern Syria where Daesh members are located, ” said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.
Jordanian security installations were targeted twice before in the past seven months.
It was the first such assault targeting Jordan from Syria since Syria’s descent into conflict in 2011 and followed an attack on June 6 on a security office near the Jordanian capital Amman in which five people, including three Jordanian intelligence officers, were killed.
A suspect was later arrested but details of the attack have been kept under a gag order while the investigation continues.
Jordan is a member of the US -led military coalition fighting to drive IS out of the areas it controls in Syria and Iraq.
The explosion went off at about 5.30am near the makeshift Ruqban camp for tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in the remote desert area on the border, awaiting entry into Jordan.
The driver entered Jordanian territory through an opening used for humanitarian aid deliveries and blew himself up as he reached a military post, it added.
In light of the incident, and to protect Jordan’s security, this particular border area must be closed, especially for individuals and vehicles, considering it a sealed military zone.
Jordan has carried out air strikes against IS in neighboring Syria since 2014.
The US embassy in Amman denounced Tuesday’s bombing and pledged “unwavering support” for the armed forces of its key ally.
“There is a large concentration of people along this border and a big infiltration of elements from Daesh terrorists who are present heavily”, Joudeh said, using the Arabic derogatory term for Islamic State.
A flare-up in Syria’s war last month sparked a new influx of refugees in the no man’s land.
This particular humanitarian emergency is a microcosm of the migrant crisis resulting from the Syrian civil war, which has displaced around half of the country’s population, led millions of Syrians to seek refuge overseas – including in Jordan and the European Union – and stoked fears that Islamic State is taking advantage of the human flows to spread terrorism.
Jordan says it hosts almost 1.4 million Syrian refugees, of whom 630,000 are registered with the United Nations.
On Tuesday the Jordanian government spokesman said his country does not expect to build more refugee camps on its soil or extend those already there.
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One of its pilots was murdered by the group after he was captured in Syria in December 2014.
