IS claims weekend Karak attack

KARAK: Jordanian security forces guard an entrance, left, as boys walk past in the morning mist in front of Karak Castle. — AP

AMMAN: Gunmen killed four Jordanian policemen in a new shootout yesterday in Karak, where a weekend attack claimed by the Islamic State group left 10 people dead, a security source said. Security forces came under fire after launching a raid to track down suspects following Sunday's assault, whose victims included a Canadian tourist, the source said, adding that the operation was still ongoing. But another senior security source quoted by the official Petra news agency said that the suspects were not linked to the "terrorist group" behind Sunday's attack.

The general security department said in a statement that police surrounded a house where the gunmen were holed up and that the suspects opened fire on them. A Jordanian member of parliament from Karak, Haitham Ziadeen, confirmed that an operation was under way to arrest wanted gunmen. "A shootout erupted after security forces arrived to raid a house in the Qarifla region of Karak province, where the gunmen have sought shelter," he said.

Sunday's shooting spree in Karak, home to one of the region's biggest Crusader castles, killed seven policemen and two Jordanian civilians as well as the Canadian tourist. A total of 34 other people were wounded, including the son of the Canadian holidaymaker and another foreigner, according to authorities. Four assailants were killed by the Jordanian security forces after an hours-long siege of the Crusader castle, where the suspects had fled after opening fire on police patrols and a police station in the city.

The Islamic State group yesterday claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by four "soldiers of the caliphate" who used machine-guns and hand grenades. A statement said the jihadist assault targeted Jordanian "apostate" security forces and citizens of the US-led coalition battling the jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

Revenge for air campaign

IS identified the four dead militants and said the attack was revenge for the US-led coalition's air campaign targeting jihadists in Syria and Iraq. It also pledged to carry out further assaults on countries within the US-led coalition. Jordan is part of the alliance and has carried out air strikes targeting IS. It also hosts coalition troops on its territory.

Maaz Al-Kassasbeh, a Jordanian fighter pilot from Karak, was captured by the jihadists when his plane went down in Syria in December 2014, and he was later burned alive in a cage. King Abdullah II denounced Sunday's shooting spree as a "cowardly terrorist attack", during a visit Tuesday to the police headquarters in Amman. But he vowed that the assault "will not affect the security and stability of Jordan. It will reinforce its will and the criminals will not be able to undermine" the country.

The Canadian foreign ministry confirmed that one of its nationals had been killed and another injured in "the heinous attack". "The government of Canada stands ready to assist Jordan in bringing the perpetrators of this attack to justice," a statement added. On Monday, Jordanian police said they found suicide belts and other explosives in the hideout of the suspects behind the attack. IS has claimed previous attacks on Jordan, including in June when a suicide bomber killed seven border guards near the Syrian frontier. According to sources close to Islamists, almost 4,000 Jordanians have joined jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria, and an estimated 420 have been killed since 2011.

Jordan writer killer sentenced to death

Meanwhile, a Jordanian court yesterday sentenced to death an Islamist man accused of killing a Christian writer outside an Amman court in September over a cartoon deemed offensive to Islam. Nahed Hattar was hit by three bullets on the steps of the court where he had been on trial for insulting Islam after he shared a cartoon on social media that mocked Islamists.

His 49-year-old killer, Riyad Ismail, a computer engineer who worked for the education ministry, was arrested at the scene and charged with premeditated murder, terrorism and possession of an illegal firearm. Yesterday Ismail appeared before the military court, bearded, handcuffed and wearing a brown prison uniform to hear the judge at the state security court sentence him to "death by hanging".

Judge Ziad Al-Edwan said he was sentenced "for having carried out deadly terrorist act, incitement, premeditated murder and illegal possession of a firearm." Ismail responded by saying: "Allah suffices me because he is the best disposer of affairs"-a traditional Muslim phrase used by people who feel they have been wronged and consider that only God's judgment counts.

The court also sentenced the man who sold Ismail the gun and the man who introduced him to the weapon merchant to one year in jail each. Hattar, a 56-year-old leftist writer, had been arrested on August 13 after posting a cartoon on Facebook under the title "God of Daesh" (the Islamic State jihadist group). He was later released on bail.

It showing a bearded man in bed smoking with two women lying on either side, and addressing God as a servant. He explained on Facebook that the cartoon made fun of "terrorists and how they imagine God and heaven, and does not insult God in any way". He was gunned down on September 25. His murder, which King Abdullah II branded a "heinous crime", sparked protests in Jordan, with demonstrators calling on the government to resign. - Agencies