The key facts
- Corporal Jawad Ali Khalaf Al Salayta was killed on Medina Street in Amman at around 12:20; a second officer was wounded in the face and is in stable condition
- The investigation believes the suspect planned an attack on employees of the Public Security Directorate
- The case has been referred to the State Security Court; earlier, nine Christians were killed in Karak — the deadliest attack on Jordan's Christians since the 1950s
Attack in Amman
On Thursday, 5 November, in Amman, the capital of Jordan, a police officer was killed and another wounded in what the authorities called a 'cowardly terrorist attack'. According to the Public Security Directorate, Corporal Jawad Ali Khalaf Al Salayta was on duty on Medina Street when, at around 12:20, he was attacked with a sharp object. A patrol that arrived suppressed the resistance and detained the attacker; the patrol commander was wounded in the face. Al Salayta was taken to hospital but died of his injuries. The wounded officer is in stable condition.
What the investigation established
According to preliminary findings of the investigation, the suspect planned to carry out a terrorist attack against employees of the Public Security Directorate. Prosecutors of the State Security Court have opened an investigation, the state news agency Petra reported. The Directorate declared mourning for the fallen officer, stressing that he was killed in the line of duty. Prince Feisal bin Al Hussein, deputy to King Abdullah II, visited the wounded policeman at the King Hussein Medical Center and expressed condolences to the family of the deceased. He said the king was personally following the course of the investigation and condemned any actions that threaten the security of the Jordanian people. Government spokesman Mohammad Al Momani described attacks on security personnel in the line of duty as an assault on the rule of law and on all Jordanians, adding: 'The security and stability of the homeland come above all else.'
Context: the attack in Karak
The attack in Amman came less than two weeks after the attack on a church in Karak governorate, where three suspects were detained on 26 October. Then, according to The National, nine Christians were killed and 34 wounded when armed men opened fire during a funeral service at the Church of Saint George of the Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Humud, about 80 km south of Amman. It was the deadliest attack on Jordan's Christian minority since the 1950s: of the country's roughly 11 million inhabitants, about 250,000 are Christians. All nine victims were men, several of them members of the influential Halasa clan. The suspects have been charged under terrorism statutes, and the case has been referred to the State Security Court, which will begin the trial. After that attack, Jordan carried out strikes on Syrian territory, and King Abdullah said on Monday that terrorists would not be allowed to threaten the unity and security of the country.
