Jordan sentences three to death over Daesh links, killing of six security personnel

A Jordanian court has sentenced three people to death for their links with the Daesh terror group and attacks which killed six Jordanian security personnel almost five years ago.

In the indictment yesterday, a total of 11 people were given sentences, varying from 5 years in prison to death by hanging, all for their roles in attacks in August 2018, the first of which killed two policemen and injured six others in a blast caused by a car bomb planted on a police car guarding a cultural festival in the town of Fuheis to the west of the capital, Amman.

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The next day, another four policemen were killed in clashes and an explosion during a raid on the building that the attackers were using as a hideout in the city of Al-Salt.

According to the indictment, shared with the official Petra news agency, all 11 convicts had “shared news about the ISIS [Daesh] group … and all agreed that this terrorist organisation works to apply God’s law”, after which they formed “a criminal gang with the aim of undermining the security and stability of the Kingdom … and undertaking armed terrorist operations”.

Those intended operations included the targeting of buses transporting Jordanian security forces personnel, police patrols and a building used by the intelligence services.

The three who were sentenced to death by the court, along with one other in absentia, were found guilty of “involvement in terrorist acts using weapons and explosives that led to the death of one person”.

The remaining defendants were handed prison sentences ranging from five to twenty years, with three of the 14 defendants acquitted and released, two of whom were women.

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