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Jordan’s Public Security Directorate identified the slain officer as Corporal Jawad Ali Khalaf al-Salaita a member of the diplomatic security unit assigned to guard the Sri Lankan embassy in the Sweifieh area of Amman. According to the directorate’s spokesperson Colonel Amer al-Sartawi the assailant ambushed al-Salaita at 12:20 p.m. on Medina al-Munawwara Street stabbing him in the neck with a sharp weapon before a patrol intervened. The corporal was rushed to hospital but died of his wounds while preliminary investigations indicated the attacker born in 1994 had planned the assault targeting security forces the directorate said in a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency.
A second lieutenant who struggled with the suspect to prevent him seizing the slain officer’s firearm sustained facial injuries during the confrontation but his condition is stable a Public Security Directorate assessment found. The assailant who carried both a dagger and a knife was wounded in the encounter and arrested at the scene before being taken to hospital under guard security sources told Al Jazeera. Jordanian authorities have begun questioning the suspect as part of an investigation now overseen by the public prosecutor according to the directorate.
Government Spokesperson Mohammad Momani described the stabbing as a cowardly terrorist act that constitutes an assault on state authority the rule of law and every Jordanian in remarks distributed by the Jordan News Agency. Momani added that Prime Minister Jafar Hassan is monitoring the security services’ handling of the case and has instructed officials to determine the full circumstances and motives swiftly. The Public Security Directorate has offered condolences to al-Salaita’s family and colleagues while mourning his death as a martyrdom during official duties.
The incident comes less than two weeks after gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a church in Jordan’s Karak governorate on October 23 killing nine people and wounding around 40 in a rare assault on the country’s Christian minority Reuters reported. Jordan responded to that attack with strikes in Syria that it said targeted Islamic State members a move that drew condemnation from Damascus according to multiple accounts. King Abdullah has since stressed that terrorists will not be permitted to threaten Jordan’s unity and security the royal court stated.
Jordan remains relatively stable compared with neighboring countries despite occasional security incidents the Public Security Directorate has noted in past briefings on national safety. The latest attack prompted immediate deployment of additional personnel around diplomatic sites in the capital with authorities emphasizing that such acts will face the full force of the law. Investigations continue into any potential links between the stabbing and prior events though no connection has been confirmed by officials to date.
