Gunmen killed 10 people including a Canadian tourist and police officers on Sunday in southern Jordan, before security forces killed four attackers in a siege lasting several hours.
The shootings took place in Karak, a tourist destination known for one of the biggest Crusader castles in the region, around 120 kilometres (70 miles) south of the capital Amman.
Jordan's general security department said seven policemen, a female Canadian tourist and two Jordanian civilians were killed in a series of shootings.
It said that 27 others, including policemen and civilians, were wounded.
Four attackers who had taken refuge in the castle were killed later Sunday by security forces who had besieged them amid exchanges fire lasting several hours, a security source said.
The Canadian foreign ministry confirmed that one of its nationals had been killed in the attack and another injured in "the heinous attack."
Canadian officials in Amman are "actively working with local authorities to gather additional information and are providing consular assistance to Canadians at this difficult time," a foreign ministry official said.
"The government of Canada stands ready to assist Jordan in bringing the perpetrators of this attack to justice," a statement added.
- 'Five or six gunmen' -
Earlier, the prime minister said 10 gunmen were holed up in the fortress, while the general security department spoke of "five or six gunmen" who were thought to be involved in the shootings.
The first attack took place early in the afternoon when a police patrol went to check on a house fire in Karak, the department said in a statement carried by the official Petra news agency.
"As soon as they reached the area, unknown gunmen who were inside the house opened fire on the patrol, wounding a policeman, and then fled by car," the statement said.
Gunmen later fired on another patrol while more shots rang out from inside the Crusader castle, aimed at the Karak police station and "wounding several policemen and passersby," it said.
"Police and security forces have surrounded the castle and its vicinity and launched an operation to hunt down the gunmen."
- People trapped -
A senior security source said some people had been trapped in part of the citadel when the gunmen took shelter there, but denied media reports that they were being held hostage.
"There are no hostages. But some people who were on a lower floor were afraid of leaving as the gunmen traded fire with the security forces," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He said that the gunmen were on a higher level inside the fortress.
The Jordan Tourism Board describes the Karak citadel, which dates back to the 12th century and has withstood many sieges, as a "maze of stone-vaulted halls and endless passageways."
Prime Minister Hani al-Malki, who was addressing parliament at the time of the shootings, said that "special forces and policemen are surrounding 10 gunmen holed up inside the Karak citadel."
It was not immediately clear who was behind the shootings, but Jordan has been hit by Islamist attacks in the past.
Jordan is a leading member of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in neighbouring Iraq and Syria.
It has carried out air strikes targeting IS, and also hosts coalition troops on its territory.
Maaz al-Kassasbeh, a Jordanian fighter pilot, was captured by the jihadists when his plane went down in Syria in December 2014, and he was later burned alive in a cage.
Karak is Kassasbeh's hometown.
In June, a suicide bombing claimed by IS killed seven border guards near the Syrian frontier.
According to sources close to Islamists, almost 4,000 Jordanians have joined jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria, and an estimated 420 have been killed since 2011.
AFP
Mon Dec 19 2016
![Canadian tourist among 10 dead in Jordan attacks Canadian tourist among 10 dead in Jordan attacks](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2016-12/51482113718_Karak.jpg)
Ambulances are seen in front of the Italian hospital where some of the injured were evacuated to after an attack, in the city of Karak, Jordan, December 18, 2016. REUTERS
![Ahli ekonomi yakin pertumbuhan KDNK sekitar 5.8 peratus pada suku kedua 2024 Ahli ekonomi yakin pertumbuhan KDNK sekitar 5.8 peratus pada suku kedua 2024](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-06/81717305735_EkonomiMalaysia.jpg)
Ahli ekonomi yakin pertumbuhan KDNK sekitar 5.8 peratus pada suku kedua 2024
Kalangan ahli ekonomi yakin KDNK Malaysia bagi suku kedua 2024 akan berkembang pada 5.8 peratus berbanding 4.2 peratus pada suku pertama tahun ini.
AWANI Pagi: Berita tumpuan & menarik di astroawani.com [15 Ogos 2024]
Antara fokus AWANI Pagi bersama Nursyazwani Saiful Sham dan Afiezy Azaman
- Mayat lelaki di jambatan Klang dipercayai YouTuber Nidza Afham
- BNM denda Maybank, CIMB kerana gangguan perkhidmatan berpanjangan
- JIWA SME: Inovasi kuih sejuk beku jadi kudapan jemaah tunai umrah
#AWANInews #AWANIpagi
- Mayat lelaki di jambatan Klang dipercayai YouTuber Nidza Afham
- BNM denda Maybank, CIMB kerana gangguan perkhidmatan berpanjangan
- JIWA SME: Inovasi kuih sejuk beku jadi kudapan jemaah tunai umrah
#AWANInews #AWANIpagi
![Cisco akan kurangkan 7 peratus tenaga kerja globalnya Cisco akan kurangkan 7 peratus tenaga kerja globalnya](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/41723681507_Ciscologo.jpg)
Cisco akan kurangkan 7 peratus tenaga kerja globalnya
Langkah mengurangkan kakitangan itu dijangka melibatkan kos pra-cukai sehingga AS$1 bilion.
Jiwa SME: Kuih tradisonal sejuk beku 'diterbangkan' ke Tanah Suci
Inovasi pembuatan makanan sejuk beku, terutama kuih muih tradisional telah berjaya membawa produk itu ke peringkat global, terutama dalam memenuhi citarasa jemaah haji dan umrah rakyat Malaysia di Tanah Suci Mekah dan Madinah.
![Gol sulung Mbappe bantu Real Madrid juarai Piala Super UEFA Gol sulung Mbappe bantu Real Madrid juarai Piala Super UEFA](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/51723679998_KylianMbappe.jpg)
Gol sulung Mbappe bantu Real Madrid juarai Piala Super UEFA
"Ia adalah malam yang hebat. Ia adalah detik yang hebat untuk saya. Dan kami memenangi kejuaraan, yang penting - di Madrid anda perlu sentiasa menang."
![“I love you Am, bahagialah di syurga firdausi” - Aufahanie “I love you Am, bahagialah di syurga firdausi” - Aufahanie](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/51723679258_AufahanieNidzaAfh.jpg)
“I love you Am, bahagialah di syurga firdausi” - Aufahanie
Air mata Aufahanie sudah kering meratapi pemergian abang tercinta, Nidza Afham yang ditemui meninggal dunia selepas dilaporkan hilang.
Konsert jelajah: Taylor Swift teruskan konsert London selepas ancaman keganasan
Taylor Swift akan meneruskan persembahan di London pada Khamis, meneruskan jelajah konsert terbesar dunia di tengah-tengah kebimbangan keselamatan susulan cubaan serangan Daesh memaksa pembatalan tarikh konsert di Vienna, minggu lalu.
Taliban rai ulang tahun ketiga pemerintahan Afghanistan
Kerajaan Taliban semalam meraikan ulang tahun ketiga pemerintahannya di Afghanistan dengan perarakan tentera yang memberi penghormatan kepada bom buatan sendiri yang digunakan ketika peperangan, pesawat pejuang dan perbarisan pasukan keselamatan.
![Bapa bintang bola sepak Sepanyol, Lamine Yamal ditikam - Laporan Bapa bintang bola sepak Sepanyol, Lamine Yamal ditikam - Laporan](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/61723677980_MounirNasraoui.jpg)
Bapa bintang bola sepak Sepanyol, Lamine Yamal ditikam - Laporan
Mounir Nasraoui, bapa kepada Lamine Yamal, ditikam pada lewat Rabu di tempat letak kereta di bandar Mataro di timur laut Sepanyol.
Warga AS dihukum penjara 15 hari di Rusia kerana bersikap samseng
Mahkamah Moscow menjatuhkan hukuman penjara 15 hari kepada warga Amerika Syarikat Joseph Tater pada Rabu kerana bersikap samseng.