Jordanian security vehicles seen al Baqaa Refugee Camp. (Photo by Muhammad Hamed/Reuters)
Three intelligence officers were among five people killed in an attack on a Jordanian intelligence services office at a Palestinian refugee camp in the capital city of Amman on Monday, government officials have confirmed.Carried out around 7 am on the first day of Ramadan, a holy month of fasting for Muslims, the attack at the Baqa'a refugee camp — the largest in the country, housing around 100,000 refugees — also took the lives of a guard and a receptionist.Government spokesperson Mohammed al-Momani did not release any further details and no one has claimed responsibility, but according to a security source cited by AFP, the attack was carried out by a lone gunman with an automatic weapon.According to the Associated Press, al-Momani suggested that Islamic militants were behind the attack, saying it showed "criminal behaviour of people who are outside of our religion."Speaking to the Al Arabiya news channel, information minister Samih al-Maaytah said, "This attack was obviously a deliberate attack that the group, whoever is responsible, that they are present in Jordan and are capable of carrying attacks."The attack is seen as unusual in Jordan, a key member of a US-led coalition against ISIS, which has managed to stay relatively stable despite the numerous conflicts in the surrounding region.The country has carried out airstrikes against the Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria, and earlier this year, several ISIS sympathizers were killed in a shootout as part of an intelligence operation launched in the city of Irbid.
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