Jordanian authorities are investigating a stabbing outside Sri Lanka’s Embassy in Amman that killed an officer assigned to protect the mission and left another officer and the assailant injured.
The attack occurred at 12:20 p.m. (09:20 GMT) Thursday on Medina al-Munawwara Street in west Amman, Public Security Directorate (PSD) spokesperson Col. Amer al-Sartawi said. The PSD said Corporal Jawad Ali Khalaf al-Salaita was the officer killed; he served in the unit responsible for embassy security.
A police patrol intervened, and al-Salaita later died in hospital. The PSD said the wounded officer was stable at Medical City Hospital, while the assailant was in critical condition at Dar Al Salam Hospital. The PSD said investigators’ initial assessment was that General Security Directorate officers were the intended targets.
Jordan’s state-run Al-Mamlaka TV reported that the assailant tried to take the dead officer’s weapon before a second officer intervened. Al Jazeera correspondent Tamer al-Samadi said records he reviewed showed the attacker had been convicted for joining groups Jordanian authorities classify as terrorist and for plotting attacks in Jordan. He had served years in prison, the report said.
The public prosecutor announced that the State Security Court was investigating the attack. The minister of government communication said the prime minister had called for a swift account of what happened and why. Jordan’s state news agency Petra said King Abdullah II was personally monitoring the investigation.
EconoTimes previously reported the suspect’s arrest after the stabbing.
