A Jordanian court has charged a man with terrorism after he was suspected of stabbing a police officer to death and wounding another outside the Sri Lankan embassy in Amman.
The stabbing of Cpl Jawad Al Salayta in a busy area of the capital last Thursday came after an attack on a church in central Jordan that killed nine men on October 23. The nine were mostly members of Halasa, a prominent Christian clan. Authorities described the attack as terrorism and arrested three men who allegedly carried out last month's shooting.
Both attacks have caused shock throughout Jordan, where violence against the Christian community is rare. While militants have targeted security forces several times in the past decade, the killing of the corporal was seen widely as a brazen challenge to the security core of the establishment.
National television reported that the prosecution division of the state's Security Court had “finished all the investigative procedures regarding the terrorist act against the ranks of the public security in Amman”. The suspect was interrogated and charged with two counts of “committing terrorist actions”, one of which “led to the death” of the police officer.
Pro-government media identified the suspect as Muhannad Al Hmouri, a Jordanian citizen. Born in 1994, Mr Al Hmouri was in 2022 sentenced to nine years in prison for his involvement in a plan to attack a security compound in the northern governorate of Irbid, and for links to ISIS. He was released from jail only days before the fatal stabbing last week.
He reportedly tried to seize a rifle from the corporal. However, Cpt Firas Al Ananzeh, a police officer who had arrived at the scene shortly beforehand, intervened and was wounded as he tried to overcome the attacker.
On Sunday, the trial of five men suspected of involvement in the Hmoud church attack got under way. The government-owned Jordan Times reported that three of them are facing charges of terrorism. The other two allegedly sold them the weapons used in the attack.
