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

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 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.







