AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan sealed its last entry point for Syrian refugees Tuesday after a cross-border suicide attack killed six members of the Jordanian security forces, wounded 14 and exposed the pro-Western kingdom’s growing vulnerability to spillover from conflict next
AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan sealed its last entry point for Syrian refugees Tuesday after a cross-border suicide attack killed six members of the Jordanian security forces, wounded 14 and exposed the pro-Western kingdom’s growing vulnerability to spillover from conflict next door.
The closure raised questions about the fate of tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who are stranded in remote desert areas along the border, many of them for months, and depend on daily deliveries of food and water from the Jordanian side.
Jordan said its security comes first. Government spokesman Mohammed Momani said Jordan had warned for months that militants, including those from the Islamic State group, are mingling with refugees in the two rapidly expanding encampments on the border and pose a serious security threat.
“The border will be closed,” Momani told reporters.
“We will not allow the crossing of people or vehicles through that area.”
King Abdullah II said in a statement that Jordan will “respond with an iron fist” to anyone harming its borders or security, but did not lay out specifics.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assault, the third against Jordanian security installations in seven months.
Tuesday’s attack was launched at dawn near Ruqban, the larger of the two border camps.
The assailant drove a truck packed with explosives at high speed through an opening in the border, said Momani. “It reached our side of the border and it ended up exploding with the driver inside,” he said.
The military said the blast targeted a Jordanian army post.
A Ruqban resident said he saw a pickup truck crashing through a Jordanian border gate. Seconds later, a blast went off, followed by the sound of shooting.
