Jordan News

From its founding in 1921 until 2021, Jordan has dealt with (136) terrorist operations, which resulted in (171) deaths and (341) injuries, according to the report of the Terrorism Index in Jordan in 100 Years.

The report ranked Jordan among the “medium security” countries, as it ranked 63 out of 163 countries in the world on the “Global Peace Index” for the year 2021.

The report issued by the Sharafat Center for Studies and Research on Globalization and Terrorism said that despite the fact that no actual terrorist operation occurred in 2021, the Intelligence Department’s thwarting of two terrorist operations in Irbid and Ghor al-Safi at the beginning of the year proves the validity of this rate reached (indicator Terrorism in Jordan) (JTI) through a time series analysis of the phenomenon of terrorism in Jordan during the period from 1921-2021.

According to the report, since 2011, and for the second year in a row, Jordan has not witnessed any actual terrorist operation, or against Jordanian interests abroad, while the number of frustrating terrorist operations of ISIS in 2021 reached two, where the General Intelligence Department succeeded in thwarting the first operation. In February 2021, it was announced in the media on 27-7-2021.

The operation of a 4-member ISIS cell aimed at attacking Jordanian and Israeli border guards with light weapons in the Ghor al-Safi area in the Jordan Valley.

While the second operation was aborted during the period from 3 to 10 March 2021, and it was announced in the media on 6 September 2021, and it was for a cell consisting of 3 members that aimed to attack the Irbid intelligence building with light weapons.

The report continues that in the year 2021 witnessed the weakness of the “ISIS” organization in particular, as the Jordanian General Intelligence Department confirmed that the number of members belonging to the organization decreased from 1,250 members at the beginning of the conflict in Syria in 2011, and did not exceed 750 members in the year 2021, as a result of the return of some of them to Jordan, and the deaths of others on the battlefields.

According to the report, Jordan has witnessed significant and influential terrorist threats since its founding in 1921, and although “the assassination of King Abdullah bin Al Hussein, the founder in 1951, was the first major terrorist operation in the country’s history, the intelligence about the king’s assassination and political violence later ; She indicated the continuity of terrorist activity in Jordan since the founding of the state. Since then, Jordan has been getting rid of terrorist threats for short and intermittent periods.”

The forms, types and methods of terrorism in Jordan have been changing during the past 100 years, and they have been evolving in parallel with the development of the process of globalization, especially its technological mechanisms embodied in the use of the Internet and social media.

According to the report, “assassinations” are among the methods of terrorism that were used in Jordan. During the 100 years, the Kingdom witnessed 16 operations, the first of which was on July 17, 1951, represented by the assassination of the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Riad El Solh, through the use of individual light weapons, by shooting. He was arrested in his car while he was on his way to Marka Airport in the northeast of the Jordanian capital, Amman, returning to Beirut after a visit to Amman.

The assassination was carried out by three members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, one of whom was a deputy in the Jordanian army named Muhammad Adib Al-Salah, in retaliation for the execution of the party’s leader, Anton Saadeh, according to many accounts.

Jordan also witnessed 10 hostage-takings during the same previous period. This method was active during the seventies, then the last of which was on December 18, 2016, when ISIS attacked the security center in the city of Karak and took hostages in the ancient Karak Citadel in southern Jordan. ?

With regard to bombings, the Kingdom witnessed, during its first centenary of its life, (13) bombing attacks, the first and most important of which was the bombing of the Prime Ministry building on August 2, 1960, the first terrorist operation targeting Jordanian officials using the method of bombing.

The terrorist operation resulted in the death of the Prime Minister of Jordan at the time, Hazza al-Majali, in addition to 11 people, most notably the Undersecretary of the Jordanian Foreign Ministry Zaha Al-Din Al-Hamoud, Assem Al-Taji/Tourism Undersecretary, and Captain Mamdouh Saeed Ishaqat/the military escort of Al-Majali, and 41 people were wounded, and the accused were arrested. In the process 4 of them were executed.

During the period between 1968-1977, Jordan was exposed to a total of 29 terrorist attempts to hijack planes, and dealt with 7 “missile firing and exchange of fire” operations, in addition to dealing with 6 “lone wolves” operations. ?

According to the report, the security services managed to thwart 41 terrorist operations, according to what was announced in the media, the latest of which was planning to attack the Irbid Intelligence building, which was revealed in the media on September 6, 2021.

The report talks about “new events and trends” in the terrorism index, including that the absence of freedom of information transfer and databases on which the indicators of terrorism are based have a direct negative impact on the statistics on the phenomenon of terrorism, and complicates their analysis and scientific credibility, especially if the monopoly and withholding information is not Has a legal basis, or is justified at the level of national security.

The databases on which terrorism indicators are based and the study of future trends in general are organized on the basis of transparency and free access to information and data from primary sources (available at the security services and the State Security Court). Unfortunately, this is not available in Jordan so far, under the pretext of “secret information”.

The Corona pandemic helped reduce the spread of global terrorism in general; But terrorist operations or planning for them did not stop in Jordan despite the strict security measures, and the application of the harshest degrees of “securitization” in the country since the beginning of the Corona pandemic, and this is evidenced by the terrorist operations that were thwarted by the Intelligence Department in the Jordan Valley, and Irbid.

With regard to the type of targets, indicators showed that targeting is directed at cadres of the security services (public security, intelligence) and the armed forces, and this trend deepened in 2021 through the results of the investigations in the Jordan Valley and Irbid operations, and is expected to increase in the future.

The Israeli border guards soldiers in the Jordan Valley were also targeted by ISIS for the first time through Jordan. Although Israel is a central target of ISIS propaganda; However, it appears that the members of the cell who tried to carry out the operation acted and planned on their own, without central direction from the organization.

In terms of recruitment methods, social media is still the primary method of propaganda and recruitment of members and supporters of ISIS in Jordan, as evidenced by investigations into the frustrating operations in the Jordan Valley and Irbid.

Also, “the reform and rehabilitation centers are still breeding terrorists, and this is evidenced by the investigations into the frustrating operations in the Jordan Valley and Irbid. The recruitment and planning of the two operations took place in the centers, and then after the release of the accused, which may raise questions about the feasibility of reform, rehabilitation, reintegration and care programs.” Subsequent.”

The interest in the National Strategy to Combat Violent Extremism and Terrorism in Jordan, which was issued in 2014, has also faded, and while the modernization and change affected most of the country’s political and economic structures during the year 2021, we did not witness any interest in developing or updating this strategy.

On October 21, 2021, the International Financial Action Task Force (FATF) included Jordan in the gray lists, due to its “failure to address money laundering and terrorist financing.” This group was established as an intergovernmental body in Paris in 1989. Its mission is to prepare and develop policies related to combating money laundering and terrorist financing locally and internationally, in which the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund participate.

Given the importance of combating the financing of terrorism, the Jordanian government responded quickly to this defect in order to meet the conditions for technical compliance with the international standards referred to by the FATF, in addition to expanding the scope of the categories covered by the provisions of the law, so it issued the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law No. 20 of 2021, in the Official Gazette Thursday, September 16, 2021, when it entered into force.

This will enhance Jordan’s capabilities in combating terrorism and financing operations, and cooperating with the rest of the global institutions concerned with combating terrorism and its financing.