Jordan deters 'IS' attack
March 2, 2016
Security forces located the militants in a hideout in Jordan's northern city Irbid, which lies near the Syrian border, according to state news agency Petra.
"The terrorists refused to surrender and put up strong resistance using automatic weapons," a statement from Jordan's intelligence service said.
Seven terrorists wearing suicide vests were killed in the raid on an Irbid building and 13 others were arrested. A cache of weapons and explosives was also seized, the statement added.
The militants allegedly had ties to the "Islamic State" ("IS") and were planning attacks on military and civilian targets in the kingdom.
Jordan is part of a US-led coalition against IS in the neighboring countries of Iraq and Syria. The kingdom has cracked down on suspected sympathizers of the group and has imprisoned people expressing their support to the militants on social media.
The Middle East country is currently hosting over 630,000 refugees from Syria, although the Jordanian government says many are unregistered and the actual number could be around 1.4 million.
mg/kms (AFP, Reuters)