Ex-Convict Charged with Terrorism in Jordan Following Police Officer's Fatal Stabbing

A Jordanian court has formally charged a former convict with terrorism following the stabbing death of a police officer and the wounding of another outside the Sri Lankan embassy in Amman. The incident, which occurred last Thursday in a busy part of the capital, follows a deadly attack on a church in central Jordan on October 23 that claimed the lives of nine men, primarily members of the prominent Christian Halasa clan. Authorities had previously designated the church attack as terrorism and arrested three individuals in connection with the shooting. Both recent attacks have sent shockwaves through Jordan, a country where violence targeting the Christian community is uncommon. While militants have previously targeted security forces, the killing of Corporal Jawad Al Salayta is viewed as a significant challenge to the nation's security establishment.

The prosecution division of the state's Security Court announced the completion of investigative procedures related to the "terrorist act against the ranks of the public security in Amman." The suspect, identified by pro-government media as Muhannad Al Hmouri, a Jordanian citizen born in 1994, faces two counts of "committing terrorist actions," one of which resulted in the death of the police officer. Mr. Al Hmouri was previously sentenced in 2022 to nine years in prison for his involvement in a plot to attack a security compound in the northern governorate of Irbid and for his links to ISIS. He was released from prison only days before the fatal stabbing incident last week. Reports indicate that he attempted to seize the corporal's rifle. Captain Firas Al Ananzeh, a police officer who arrived at the scene shortly after the attack, intervened and was wounded while attempting to apprehend the assailant.

Meanwhile, the trial for five men suspected of involvement in the earlier Hmoud church attack commenced on Sunday. According to the government-owned Jordan Times, three of these defendants are facing terrorism charges, while the other two are accused of supplying the weapons used in that attack.