Jordan attack: Canadian among five dead in Karak shooting
- 3 minutes ago
- Middle East
THINKSTOCK
A Canadian tourist and four police officers have been killed in gun attacks in and near the Jordanian city of Karak, officials say.
Unidentified gunmen went on a shooting spree before fleeing to an ancient castle in the city and reportedly taking several tourists hostage.
Jordanian officials said events began with a shoot-out between police and armed men at a house near Karak. The gunmen then fled by car into the city.
Nine other people have been wounded.
No group has admitted carrying out the attacks.
"Police and security forces have surrounded the castle and its vicinity and launched an operation to hunt down the gunmen," a statement by Jordan's Public Security Directorate said.
One report said some tourists had been released, but this was not confirmed. It is not clear how many are trapped inside Karak's Crusader-era castle.
Footage on social media purportedly from the scene showed armed police moving into the sprawling castle complex and helping tourists when shots ring out and they are forced to retreat.
The security directorate statement said gunmen had also shot at a security patrol before they reached the castle. Once inside they opened fire on a police station, a statement said.
It is not clear if all the fatalities took place at the castle.
Jordan is a close ally of the US and a member of the US-led coalition fighting the so-called Islamic State (IS) group in Syria and Iraq.
US forces have trained a small group of Syrian rebels in Jordan as well as Iraqi and Palestinian security forces.
IS has previously threatened to "break down" Jordan's borders.
In June the group said it was behind a suicide truck-bomb attack that killed six security personnel on the border with Syria.
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