Earlier this month, Jordan experienced its largest act of terrorism in over a decade—an attack on an intelligence complex that resulted in five deaths. This was only the latest and most severe of a recent upsurge of such incidents in the kingdom, most of which have been linked to Islamic State (IS). David Schenker writes:
In November 2015, a Jordanian police officer killed two American and two South African trainers, as well as two of his fellow countrymen, at an international police-training facility in [the city of] Moaqar. More recently, this March, Jordanian counterterrorism forces raided an IS cell at a Palestinian camp in the northern town of Irbid, killing eight militants allegedly planning attacks against civilian and military targets.
Less widely publicized were several other terrorist plots interdicted by Jordanian security forces. In July 2015, for example, seven Jordanians were given lengthy jail sentences and a Syrian was sentenced in absentia for planning attacks on the Israeli embassy in Amman and on U.S. troops in Moaqar. . . .
An estimated 2,500 Jordanians have already joined the ranks of the foreign fighters in Syria.
Jordan is Washington’s best Arab ally and is a key partner in the campaign against IS in Syria, providing the U.S. and other western states with airbases and other critical operational support. More importantly, King Abdullah of Jordan has been a leading voice of regional moderation [and] in countering the IS/al-Qaeda [worldview]. Recognizing the import of the kingdom, the U.S. provides it with over $1 billion in annual economic and military assistance, as well as in support for the absorption of refugees.
At this point, however, money alone is not the answer to Jordan’s terrorist problem. Five years into the revolt, the Obama administration’s continued indifference to Syria is having a pernicious impact on security in the kingdom. The longer the war in Syria persists, the more danger militant Islamist ideological spillover poses to Jordan.
Read more on Washington Institute: http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/terrorist-spillover-in-jordan