Several Wounded as Jordan Security Forces Raid Terrorist Cell in al-Salt

A Jordanian police officer. (AFP)
A Jordanian police officer. (AFP)
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Several Wounded as Jordan Security Forces Raid Terrorist Cell in al-Salt

A Jordanian police officer. (AFP)
A Jordanian police officer. (AFP)

Jordanian security forces carried out on Saturday a raid against a terrorist cell suspected of involvement in the al-Fuheis terrorist attack on Friday, reported the Petra news agency.

The security forces had moved in on al-Salt city to arrest the suspects behind the attack, but they refused to turn themselves over. A shootout soon ensued.

The terrorists had previously booby-trapped the building where they were fortified in and detonated it during the raid, leaving one member of the security forces dead and a number wounded.

Several civilians were also injured in the incident.

Three of the suspects were arrested.

One policeman was killed and six others wounded when a homemade explosives device went off near their van in al-Fuheis on Friday.

"This cowardly act will only increase the determination to do our job to protect people," the interior ministry statement said.



France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
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France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)

Paris declined to comment on Algeria’s “strong condemnation” of the French government’s decision to recognize Morocco’s claim over the Sahara.

The office of the French Foreign Ministry refused to respond to an AFP request for a comment on the Algeria’s stance.

It did say that further comments could impact the trip Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is set to make to France in late September or early October.

The visit has been postponed on numerous occasions over disagreements between the two countries.

France had explicitly expressed its constant and clear support for the autonomy rule proposal over the Sahara during Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s visit to Morocco in February, reported AFP.

The position has helped improve ties between Rabat and Paris.

On Thursday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry expressed “great regret and strong denunciation" about the French government's decision to recognize an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region "within Moroccan sovereignty”.

Algeria was informed of the decision by France in recent days, an Algerian foreign ministry statement added.

The ministry also said Algeria would draw all the consequences from the decision and hold the French government alone completely responsible.