Jordanian police said Monday they found suicide belts and other explosives in the hideout of suspected ISIL Takfiri group behind an attack that killed 10 people, including a Canadian tourist.
Another 34 people were wounded in Sunday’s shooting spree, including a second Canadian. Four gunmen were shot dead by police during the course of a siege lasting several hours.
The attack took place in Karak, a tourist destination known for one of the region’s biggest Crusader castles, around 120 kilometers south of the capital Amman.
Police said they suspected ISIL jmilitants were behind the attack.
“The four dead militants are Jordanian members of a terrorist cell suspected of belonging to ISIL,” a security source told AFP.
It was unclear whether any militants were still at large.
Prime Minister Hani al-Malki, who was addressing parliament at the time of the shootings, had spoken of as many as 10 gunmen.
Jordan is a leading member of the US-led coalition allegedly fighting ISIL in neighboring Iraq and Syria.
It has carried out air strikes targeting ISIL, and also hosts coalition troops on its territory.
Maaz al-Kassasbeh, a Jordanian fighter pilot, was captured by the militants when his plane went down in Syria in December 2014, and he was later burned alive in a cage.
Karak is Kassasbeh’s hometown.
In June, a suicide bombing claimed by ISIL killed seven border guards near the Syrian frontier.
According to sources close to extremists, almost 4,000 Jordanians have joined Takfiri groups in Iraq and Syria, and an estimated 420 have been killed since 2011.
Source: AFP
