Baqaa, Jordan // A gunman killed five Jordanian intelligence agents on Monday in a daylight “terrorist attack” on their office in a Palestinian refugee camp.
Jordan is a leading member of the US-led coalition fighting ISIL in Iraq and Syria, and, while such attacks are rare, the kingdom has been the a target for extremists in the past.
Jordan’s security forces were investigating who was responsible for the “terrorist attack”, which took place on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan.
“The intelligence agency office in the Baqaa camp was the target of a cowardly attack shortly before 7am (4am GMT) that left five agents dead,” government spokesman Mohammed Momani said.
A security source said that preliminary findings suggested the attack was carried out by a lone gunman who opened fire with an automatic weapon before escaping.
The shooting happened as the intelligence team members were starting their shift.
It was unclear whether the gunman was a camp resident or an outsider, the source said, adding that experts were poring over CCTV footage for more clues.
Jordan has seen spillover from the conflicts in Iraq and Syria in the past.
In December 2005, suicide attacks on three Amman hotels claimed by ISIL’s predecessor Al Qaeda in Iraq killed 60 people and wounded dozens.
The Baqaa camp, where Monday’s attack took place, is 20 kilometres from central Amman and is the largest of the kingdom’s 10 official Palestinian refugee camps.
Former member of parliament Mahmud Al Kharabsha said what happened in Baqaa had been “expected”.
“This camp was chosen for an attack in order to sow sedition [between Palestinians and Jordanians] in the country,” said Mr Kharabsha. “What happened was expected. Jordan is in the midst of a cyclone and shares long borders with Syria and Iraq.”
Baqaa — which suffers from chronic poverty and unemployment — houses around 220,000 people, including more than 100,000 of the two million Palestinian refugees who live in Jordan.
It was one of “six emergency camps” set up in 1968 to house Palestinians fleeing the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as a result of the 1967 Six-Day War during which Israel seized the Palestinian territories, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
Baqaa was the home of Mahmud Abdelal, an extremist who blew himself up in Syria in October 2012.
In 2010, three Jordanian extremists were sentenced to prison terms of between three years and life for plotting to kill intelligence officers in the camp.
According to militant sources, almost 4,000 Jordanians have joined extremist groups in Iraq and Syria, where an estimated 420 have been killed since 2011.
Jordan has carried out air strikes against ISIL in Syria since 2014.
One of its pilots was captured by the extremists when his plane went down in Syria in December 2014. In February 2015, ISIL released gruesome footage of Maaz Al Kassasbeh being burned alive in a cage.
His murder prompted Jordan to extend its air strikes against ISIL to Iraq, where it is the only Arab coalition member taking part in the bombing campaign.
Jordan has also opened up the Prince Hassan airbase, north-east of the capital, to other members of the US-led coalition in the air war.
In March, Jordanian authorities announced they had foiled an ISIL plot to carry out attacks in the kingdom in an operation that killed seven militants.
*Agence France-Presse
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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