Jordan says border car bomb detonated by suicide attacker

World Today

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Jordan’s government says an explosives-laden truck that blew up near a Jordanian army post on the border with Syria was driven by a suicide attacker.

Spokesman Mohammed Momani says the border area will be sealed, leaving it unclear how international aid will reach some 64,000 Syrian refugees stranded on the frontier.

The car bomb exploded on Tuesday near the army post on the sealed border with war-ravaged Syria, killing six members of the Jordanian security forces and wounding 14.

It was the deadliest attack along the border in recent memory and raised new questions about the pro-Western kingdom’s ability to block fallout from long-running conflicts taking place in its northern neighbour.

The explosion occurred at about 5:30 a.m. local time near a makeshift encampment for tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who are stranded in the remote desert area on the border, awaiting entry to Jordan.

The military said that in a statement that a “cowardly terrorist attack” targeted a military post serving Syrian refugees.

The camp, known as Ruqban, is the larger one of two that sprang up as growing numbers of Syrians fleeing fighting at home tried to get into Jordan.

The military said the blast killed four border troops, a member of the civil defense, and a public security officer.

Fourteen were wounded, including nine public security officers, the statement said.

Story by the Associated Press