Retired schoolteacher from Newfoundland among 10 victims of assault by gunmen at castle in Karak that left her son injured

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A Canadian tourist killed by gunmen at a popular Jordanian tourist attraction has been named, as the country’s security services continued to investigate the motive for an attack that left 10 people dead and several dozen injured.

Canadian consular officials said Linda Vatcher, 62, a retired schoolteacher from Newfoundland, was visiting her son Chris, who works in the region, when they were caught up in Sunday’s attack at the crusader-era castle in Karak, south of the capital, Amman.

In all, seven members of the security forces, two local civilians and Vatcher were killed, security officials said. Fifteen members of the security forces, 17 local civilians and two foreign nationals, including Vatcher’s son, were injured in one of the bloodiest incidents in Jordan in recent memory.

Four gunmen were shot dead by police during the siege, which lasted several hours.

While no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, which appears to have mainly targeted Jordanian police, speculation turned quickly to potential links to Islamic State.



The assailants had suicide vests and other weapons, and were planning separate attacks, said the interior minister, Salamah Hamad. However, he did not give details of their identity or nationality, saying an investigation was continuing.



The shootings were the latest in a series of attacks that have challenged the pro-western kingdom’s claim to be an oasis of calm in a region threatened by Islamic extremists.

A witness said attackers immediately targeted tourists when they reached the castle. “Four gunmen got out of their car [at the castle],” said Wasfi al-Habashneh, a local resident. “They opened fire at the Canadian tourists. The woman was killed, the other Canadian tourist escaped and hid behind a car, and one of the children was injured.”

Al-Habashneh said security forces engaged with the gunmen and cornered them at the castle gate.

The killing of the Canadian visitor could further damage Jordan’s embattled tourism sector, which has declined sharply since Isis seized large parts of neighbouring Syria and Iraq two years ago.

John Babcock, a Canadian foreign ministry spokesman, said: “Canadian officials in Amman are actively working with local authorities to gather additional information and are providing consular assistance to Canadians at this difficult time.”

The Canadian embassy in Amman issued an alert warning to Canadians to avoid travelling to Karak.

The chain of events began when a police patrol received reports of a house fire in the town of Qatraneh in the Karak district, a statement by Jordan’s public security directorate said. Officers responding to the call came under fire from inside the house, two policemen were wounded and the assailants fled in a car, it said.

In another attack, gunmen fired on a security patrol in Karak, causing no injuries, the statement said. Armed men then opened fire on a police station at the crusader castle, wounding security forces personnel.

The motivation behind the attack, as well as some of the details, remained murky, with officials describing the attackers as “terrorists” and “outlaws”, and commentators speculating that the shootings may have been prompted by friction between police in Qatanreh – a known smuggling centre – and tribal gunmen.



The other line of inquiry is that the attackers belonged to a jihadi group. Tourists have been targeted before in Jordan, notably a decade ago, when a Briton was killed and five other people injured in an attack on the Roman amphitheatre in Amman.

A sccurity source told Agence France-Presse: “The four dead militants are Jordanian members of a terrorist cell suspected of belonging to Isis.”

An editorial in the English-language newspaper Jordan Times, usually a reliable mouthpiece for the royal family, also spoke of the incident in terms of “terrorism”.

“Jordan has been effectively fighting terrorism for years, individually as well as alongside allies in an international coalition,” the editorial said.

“These achievements do not please terrorist groups who will, no doubt, continue to target the country and its allies, as no place around the world proved to be immune from the danger of terrorism.”

Fears that the attack was jihadi-inspired have also been raised by an increase in incidents in Jordan, which has a homegrown extremism problem. Over the past year, gunmen have carried out several attacks on members of the Jordanian security forces and their foreign trainers.

In the most recent, three US military members were killed in a shooting outside an airbase in southern Jordan last month. They were in the country on a training mission and came under fire while driving into the base.