Two U.S. Military personnel killed during insider attack

A Jordanian army officer  gunned down two American military personnel on Monday at a U.S.-backed security training facility near Amman.

The US-funded Jordan International Police Training Centre (JIPTC) in Muwaqqar –on the eastern outskirts of Amman– hosts mainly Palestinian and Iraqi officers.

According to local media reports the gunman was a senior co-trainer with the rank of captain. A South African was also killed in the attack and several more wounded. The Americans killed in the attack were reportedly instructors at the facility.

Government spokesman Mohammad Momani told Reuters the attacker was shot and killed by Jordanian security forces. Earlier reports indicated the gunman had committed suicide.

BBC reports that with no known “obvious” motive in the shooting, it’s assumed that the killings were intended as an “act of solidarity” with militant groups in the Middle East.

Jordan is part of the US-led coalition that is trying to defeat Islamic State insurgents in Syria and Iraq —  both of which border Jordan. F-16 fighter jets use Jordanian airfields to hit Islamic State positions in neighbouring Syria.

Some Jordanians fear the instability at their borders will only get worse, now that their country has stepped-up its role in the campaign to defeat ISIS.  Jordan is a staunch ally of the United States. King Abdullah passionately believes that ultra hard-line jihadists pose an “existential threat” to the kingdom.

This most recent incident took place on the 10th anniversary of al Qaeda suicide bombings that targeted three Amman hotels and killed dozens of people.

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