Bodies of 3 suspected militants found after Jordan shootout

Jordanian security forces on Sunday (August 12) pulled the bodies of three suspected militants out of a partially collapsed building in a city in central Jordan following a shoot out, a government spokeswoman said.

Security forces had raided the building in a search for those responsible for a bomb attack on a police van on Friday that was maintaining security near a music festival.

Government spokeswoman Jumana Ghunaimat told Reuters the security forces had also seized automatic weapons in a “continuing operation.”

Four security personnel were killed during a shoot out on Saturday evening with the suspected militants who had been holed up in a building in the hillside city of al-Salt.

It was not clear how many militants had taken shelter at the site in a residential quarter of the city, but three were arrested alive, security sources said. Part of the building was blown up by the militants, according to Ghunaimat.

Several incidents over the past few years have jolted the Arab kingdom, which has been comparatively unscathed by the uprisings, wars hat have swept the Middle East since 2011.