Amman – Four Jordanian policemen were killed in clashes with ISIS militants near the southern city of Karak on Tuesday as the authorities hunted militants who killed 10 people on Sunday, security officials said.
Two days earlier police tackled gunmen holed up inside a Crusader castle in Karak.
At least one gunman was killed in the operation alongside the four policemen and at least 11 people, mostly security personnel, were wounded in the clashes which were still going on, a security source said.
Police said late on Sunday they had killed four “terrorist outlaws” after flushing them out of the castle where they were holed up after an exchange of fire that lasted several hours.
The sources said that security forces carried out raids in the area, which resulted in an exchange of fire between security forces and militants.
A military source said that one of the armed militants opened fire during a security raid to capture the wanted men.
However, another senior security source quoted by the official Petra news agency said that the suspects were not linked to the “terrorist group” behind Sunday’s attack.
ISIS Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by four “soldiers of the caliphate” who used machine-guns and hand grenades.
King Abdullah II denounced Sunday’s shooting spree as a “cowardly terrorist attack,” during a visit Tuesday to the police headquarters in Amman.
Nevertheless, he vowed that the assault “will not affect the security and stability of Jordan. It will reinforce its will and the criminals will not be able to undermine the country.”