IS claims responsibility for Jordan border attack

AMMAN / AP

The extremist IS group claimed responsibility for last week’s deadly suicide attack on a Jordanian army post on the Syrian border, posting a video online on Monday it said shows the car bomb blast.
The video, which was posted on the Facebook page of the IS news agency Amaq, shows a vehicle kicking up dust as it speeds across flat desert toward what appears to be the Jordanian base. An orange ball of fire rises in the air, followed by a cloud of thick black smoke and the sound of an explosion. The video was released after Amaq published a statement by an unidentified “source” that the attack “was carried out by one of the fighters of the IS.” It said the target was an “American-Jordanian base” in a border area known as Ruqban.
The June 21 blast killed seven members of the Jordanian security forces and wounded 13. Jordan has vowed to respond harshly. After the attack, it sealed the border area, cutting off tens of thousands of Syrian refugees stranded in the area from international aid delivery. Aid officials have said no food and little water have reached the area since last week.
The website “Hala Akhbar” affiliated with the Jordanian military carried a statement on Monday from what it said was an “official source” pledging retaliation.