Jordanian army says car failed to stop at gate of airbase in al-Jafr, leading to exchange of fire

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Three US service members have been killed outside a military base in southern Jordan, in an exchange of gunfire with Jordanian military guards.

The deaths of the men – all military trainers working for the US government – was confirmed by Pentagon officials although details remain unclear.

A US official in Washington said one service member died at the scene while two, who were critically wounded, died at the King Hussein hospital in Amman, the Jordanian capital, where they were taken after the incident.

The shooting, just outside the King Faisal airbase near al-Jafr where the men worked, was initially ascribed by Jordanian authorities to the men’s failure to acknowledge instructions from guards to halt as their vehicles approached the gates of the base.

According to US officials the shots were fired at the car carrying the Americans as they tried to enter the base near the southern Jordanian town of Mann at about noon on Friday.

“A total of three US service members died today in the incident in Jordan,” the official said.



“The service members were in vehicles approaching the gate of a Jordanian military training facility, where they came under small arms fire,” the official added.

The official said they couldn’t say yet whether it was a deliberate act to kill US personnel or “some kind of misunderstanding”. The official added: “We are working with the Jordanian government to gather additional details about what happened.”

In addition to the US casualties, a Jordanian officer was also wounded, according to Jordanian officials, although it was not clear if he was in the car or at the gates of the base.

Earlier a Jordanian statement had said that the “exchange of fire occurred Friday morning at the gate of the Prince Feisal airbase in al-Jafr when a car carrying [military] trainers attempted to enter the gate without heeding the guards’ orders to stop.”

Jordan is a key US ally and member of a US-led military coalition fighting the extremist Islamic State group, which controls parts of neighbouring Iraq and Syria.

Jordan has long struggled with homegrown extremism, with hundreds of Jordanians fighting alongside Isis militants in Iraq and Syria and several thousand more supporting the extremist group in the kingdom.

In November 2015, a Jordanian police captain opened fire in an international police training facility, killing two Americans and three others.

The government subsequently portrayed the police captain as troubled. Others, however, suggested that the motivation was related to Isis.

The US has spent millions of dollars to help the kingdom fortify its borders. For the west, any sign of instability in Jordan is of great concern.







</s>Two US military trainers were killed and another was wounded in a shooting outside a military base in Jordan on Friday, a spokeswoman at Jordan’s embassy in Washington DC said.

A Jordanian officer was also wounded in the incident, according to the spokeswoman.

Reuters, citing a Jordanian military source, reported earlier on Friday that the Americans were killed when the car they were in failed to stop at the gate of the al-Jafr base near the town of Mann. The car was fired on by Jordanian security forces.

The US Embassy in the Jordanian capital Amman said it had received reports about a security incident involving US personnel and that it was in touch with Jordanian authorities.

Pro-Western Jordan is a key member of the US-led military coalition against the extremist Islamic State group, which controls parts of neighbouring Iraq and Syria.

Jordan also faces homegrown extremism, with hundreds of Jordanians fighting alongside IS militants in Iraq and Syria and several thousand more supporting the extremist group in the kingdom.

Last November, a Jordanian police captain opened fire in an international police training facility, killing two Americans and three others. The government subsequently portrayed the police captain as troubled.

The US has spent millions of dollars to help the kingdom fortify its borders. For the West, any sign of instability in Jordan would be of great concern.</s>WASHINGTON — Three U.S. military members were killed in a shooting outside a military base in southern Jordan on Friday, U.S. officials said.

An American official in Washington said one U.S. service member died at the scene and two who were wounded died at a hospital in Amman, the Jordanian capital. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because details of how the attack happened were still being investigated.

Jordan is a key U.S. ally and member of a U.S-led military coalition fighting the extremist Islamic State group, which controls parts of neighboring Iraq and Syria.

Shots were fired as a car carrying the Americans tried to enter the al-Jafr base near the southern Jordanian town of Mann at about noon local time on Friday, military officials in the U.S. and Jordan said. The American official said the U.S. government was working with Jordanian government officials to gather additional details.

In addition to the U.S. casualties, a Jordanian officer was also wounded, Jordanian officials said.

It was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting.

Jordan faces homegrown extremism, with hundreds of Jordanians fighting alongside IS militants in Iraq and Syria and several thousand more supporting the extremist group in the kingdom.

Last November, a Jordanian police captain opened fire in an international police training facility, killing two Americans and three others. The government subsequently portrayed the police captain as troubled.

The United States has spent millions of dollars to help the kingdom fortify its borders. For the West, any sign of instability in Jordan would be of great concern.</s>WASHINGTON — At least two U.S. military members were killed and another critically wounded in a shooting Friday outside a military base in southern Jordan, U.S. and Jordanian officials said.

U.S. officials said they had little information about the incident in Jordan, a key U.S. ally and member of a U.S-led military coalition fighting the extremist Islamic State group, which controls parts of Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon said the Americans were attacked at about noon local time as they approached the gate to a training facility. The Jordanian military, which first announced the shooting, said shots were fired as a car carrying the U.S. trainers tried to enter the al-Jafr base near the southern Jordanian town of Mann. In addition to the U.S. casualties, a Jordanian officer was also wounded, Jordanian officials said.

It was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting.

The U.S. Embassy in Amman said it had received reports about a security incident involving U.S. personnel and that it was in touch with Jordanian authorities.

The wounded were evacuated to King Hussein Hospital in Amman, the Pentagon said in a statement.

Jordan also faces homegrown extremism, with hundreds of Jordanians fighting alongside IS militants in Iraq and Syria and several thousand more supporting the extremist group in the kingdom.

Last November, a Jordanian police captain opened fire in an international police training facility, killing two Americans and three others. The government subsequently portrayed the police captain as troubled.

The United States has spent millions of dollars to help the kingdom fortify its borders. For the West, any sign of instability in Jordan would be of great concern.

McNeil reported from Amman. Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report from Washington.</s>Security forces in Jordan have killed three U.S. service members in a shootout at a military base on Friday.

Three American military trainers were killed after their car failed to stop at the gates of an air base south of Amman.

The incident occurred at the Prince Faisal air base in the south of Jordan, which is a close strategic ally of the United States. Two trainers died immediately and the third later in hospital. A Jordanian army guard was also shot and wounded.

“There was an exchange of fire at the entrance to the base after an attempt by the trainers’ vehicle to enter the gate without heeding orders of the guards to stop,” the military source said. “An investigation is now under way to know exactly what happened.”

Another Jordanian security source said it was not possible to rule out political motives in the incident at an air base, where dozens of U.S. trainers work alongside Jordanians.

A third Jordanian source who requested anonymity said authorities were examining reports of friction among the U.S. trainers and Jordanian army officers that might offer clues helping to explain the shooting. He did not elaborate.

The base where the incident occurred is in the heart of the traditional Bedouin region of Jordan where radical Sunni Muslim influence has grown over the last decade.

Several incidents over the past year have jolted the Arab kingdom, which has been relatively unscathed by the uprisings, civil wars and Islamist militancy that have swept the Middle East since 2011.

In November 2015, a Jordanian army officer shot dead two U.S. government security contractors and a South African at a U.S.-funded police training facility near Amman before being gunned down.

The incident embarrassed Jordanian authorities, who did not publicly disclose the motive of the assassin. The gunman was later said by security sources to have been a sympathiser of the Islamic State militant group with strong anti-Western feelings.

“What is worrying is that if this (Friday’s shooting) turns out to be deliberate it would be much more damaging than if this was a suicide or terror attack on a base because it was perpetrated by someone within the Jordanian military,” another security source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters they were reviewing the incident and could not rule out the possibility of a deliberate attack. One said there were Americans in the convoy who were unharmed in the incident.

The White House said on Friday that it would work with Jordan to determine the circumstances around the shooting.

“We will certainly want to draw on the kind of cooperation that the U.S. has with Jordan to get to the bottom of what exactly happened,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters during a briefing.

Many ordinary Jordanians harbour strong anti-American sentiment over Washington’s strong support for Israel and its military interventions in the Middle East.

Jordan is among a few Arab states that have taken part in a U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State (IS) militants holding territory in Syria. But many Jordanians oppose their country’s involvement, saying it has caused violent deaths of fellow Muslims and raised security threats inside Jordan.

Officials worry about radical Islam’s growing profile in Jordan and support in impoverished areas for militant groups.

Apart from the fatal shooting carried out by the Jordanian army officer a year ago, six Jordanian border guards were killed in June by an IS suicide bomber who drove a car at speed across the border from Syria and rammed it into a U.S.-funded military post.

Jordan hosts several hundred U.S. contractors in a military cooperation programme which includes the stationing of U.S. F-16 fighter jets that use Jordanian airfields to hit Islamic State positions in neighbouring Syria.

Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Washington has spent millions of dollars to help Jordan set up an elaborate surveillance system known as the Border Security Programme to stem infiltration by militants from Syria and Iraq.

U.S. officials say that aid to Jordan, one of the largest recipients of U.S. foreign military assistance, is expected to rise to $800 million in 2016 and grow in future years.</s>"The servicemembers were in vehicles approaching the gate of a Jordanian military training facility, where they came under small arms fire," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We are working with the Jordanian government to gather additional details about what happened."

The incident occurred at the Prince Faisal air base in the south of the country, a close ally of the United States. Another U.S. trainer was injured and a Jordanian army guard was also shot and wounded during the exchange of fire.

Another security source said it was not possible to rule out any political motives in an air base that has dozens of U.S. trainers working alongside Jordanians.

"There was an exchange of fire at the entrance to the base after an attempt by the trainers' vehicle to enter the gate without heeding orders of the guards to stop," the military source said.

"An investigation is now under way to know exactly what happened," the source said.

Jordan hosts several hundred U.S. contractors in a military program to bolster the kingdom's defenses, which includes the stationing of F-16 fighter jets that use Jordanian airfields to hit Islamic State positions in neighboring Syria.

Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Washington has spent millions of dollars to help Jordan set up an elaborate surveillance system known as the Border Security Programme to stem infiltration by militants from Syria and Iraq.

But Jordan's role in the war against Islamic State has raised disquiet among some Jordanians about instability on their borders.

U.S. officials say aid to Jordan, one of the largest recipients of U.S. foreign military assistance, is expected to rise to $800 million in 2016 and grow in future years.

The last incident involving U.S. personnel was in November last year when a Jordanian officer shot dead two U.S. government security contractors and a South African at a U.S.-funded police training facility near Amman before being gunned down.

The incident embarrassed the Jordanian authorities, who did not publicly disclose the motive of the assassin. The gunman was later revealed by security sources to have been a sympathizer of Islamic State with strong anti-Western feelings.</s>AMMAN - Three U.S. military trainers were shot dead in Jordan on Friday when their car failed to stop at the gate of a military base and was fired on by Jordanian security forces, a Jordanian military source said.

The incident occurred at the Prince Faisal air base in the south of the country, a close ally of the United States. Two trainers died immediately and a third died later in hospital.

A Jordanian army guard was also shot and wounded.

"There was an exchange of fire at the entrance to the base after an attempt by the trainers' vehicle to enter the gate without heeding orders of the guards to stop," the military source said.

"An investigation is now under way to know exactly what happened."

Another Jordanian security source said it was not possible to rule out political motives in the incident at an air base where dozens of U.S. trainers work alongside Jordanians.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters they were reviewing the incident and could not rule out the possibility of a deliberate attack.

One said there were Americans in the convoy who were unharmed in the incident.

Many ordinary Jordanians harbor strong anti-American sentiment over Washington's strong support for Israel and its military interventions in the region.

Several incidents this year have jolted the Arab kingdom, which has been relatively unscathed by the instability that has swept the region since 2011.

"We are saddened to report that three U.S. service members were killed today in a shooting incident at a Jordanian military base," Peter Cook said, adding more information would be provided "as appropriate."

Jordan hosts several hundred U.S. contractors in a military program which includes the stationing of F-16 fighter jets that use Jordanian airfields to hit Islamic State positions in neighboring Syria.

Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Washington has spent millions of dollars to help Jordan set up an elaborate surveillance system known as the Border Security Programme to stem infiltration by militants from Syria and Iraq.

U.S. officials say aid to Jordan, one of the largest recipients of U.S. foreign military assistance, is expected to rise to $800 million in 2016 and grow in future years.

The last incident involving U.S. personnel was in November last year when a Jordanian officer shot dead two U.S. government security contractors and a South African at a U.S.-funded police training facility near Amman before being gunned down.

The incident embarrassed the Jordanian authorities, who did not publicly disclose the motive of the assassin. The gunman was later said by security sources to have been a sympathizer of Islamic State with strong anti-Western feelings.

Six Jordanian border guards were killed in June by an Islamic State suicide bomber who drove a car at speed across the border from Syria and rammed it into a U.S.-funded military post.</s>At least two U.S. military trainers were shot dead in Jordan on Friday when the car they were in failed to stop at the gate of a military base and was fired on by Jordanian security forces, a Jordanian military source said.

"There was an exchange of fire at the entrance to the base after an attempt by the trainers' vehicle to enter the gate without heeding orders of the guards to stop," the military source said.

The incident occurred at the Prince Faisal air base in southern Jordan, which is a close ally of the United States.</s>A US service member was killed and two others were critically injured Friday in Jordan when they were shot as they approached the gate to a training facility, a US military official said.

An earlier Jordanian press release said that two US trainers had been killed.

The wounded service members were transported to King Hussein Hospital in Amman.

The incident took place at the Prince Faisal airbase in Al Jafr, the Jordanian government said. The airbase is in the south of Jordan.

The US embassy in Amman issued a statement saying: "We have received reports about a security incident involving US personnel. We are in contact with the appropriate Jordanian authorities, who have offered their full support. We will report more information when available and appropriate."</s>AMMAN, Jordan -- Field Marshal Fathi Abu-Taleb, a former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the Jordanian military, has died, his family said Sunday. He was 83.

Abu-Taleb, a long-time adviser to the late King Hussein, died Thursday in the Jordanian capital of Amman and was laid to rest the same day, said his son Maher.

Abu-Taleb joined the military in 1954, after graduating from the Royal Military Academy. He rose through the ranks, serving as chief of staff and as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff between 1981 and 1993.

Earlier in his career, Abu-Taleb served as military attache at the Jordanian Embassy in the United States, as head of Jordan's military intelligence and as chief of the kingdom's general intelligence service.

After retiring from the military, he was appointed to Jordan's upper house, or Senate, a post he held from 2003 until 2010.

Maher Abu-Taleb said is father was instrumental in building a modern Jordanian military.

Abu-Taleb is survived by his wife Hiam, four children and nine grandchildren.
Three U.S. service members are killed in an exchange of gunfire with Jordanian military guards outside the King Faisal Air Base near Al-Jafr, Jordan. A Jordanian officer is also injured in the incident.