Amman: A member of Jordan’s security forces died and six were wounded when a bomb exploded under a patrol car at a music festival near Amman, the interior ministry said on Saturday.
The blast hit a security patrol in Al Fuhais, 12 kilometres west of the capital on Friday evening, it said.
“It killed Sergeant Ali Adnan Qawqaza and wounded six other members of the patrol,” the ministry said, adding that an investigation was underway into the cause of the blast.
Security forces had been deployed to protect the town’s annual festival, which hosts prominent Arab music acts.
The UAE strongly condemned the attack. “The UAE stands in solidarity with Jordan against any attempts to its security and stability and supports whatever measures it may take to fight extremism, violence and terrorism,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in a statement on Saturday. The ministry reiterated the UAE’s principled and unequivocal position that rejects all forms and manifestations of terrorism.
The ministry expressed its heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims as well as to the government and people of Jordan.
Jordan has played a key role in the US-led coalition fighting Daesh in neighbouring Syria and Iraq, using its air force and allowing coalition forces to use its bases.
The kingdom was hit by a string of attacks in 2016, including a suicide bombing in June that killed seven guards near the border with Syria that was claimed by Daesh.
Months later in December a shooting rampage, also claimed by Daesh, killed 10 people including a Canadian tourist.
