Explosives found in apartment near Jordan airport used by US planes

Police in Jordan said on Saturday they had found and destroyed explosives in a crowded residential area of ​​the capital, close to a military airbase used by US military aircraft, and were investigating the incident.

Explosives stored in a house in the Marka neighborhood, northeast of the capital, were detonated at a site where people were evacuated, according to a statement from the Public Security Directorate.

The statement did not say whether police suspected the items were terrorism-related, whether arrests had been made, or the amount of explosives found. Further details would be published once the investigation was complete, the statement said.

Witnesses said the flat was about a kilometre (0.6 mile) from the Marka military airbase, which is used by US aircraft stationed in Saudi Arabia and other coalition allies.

Former officials and security experts said the explosives were discovered when civil defence officers rushed to the flat following an explosion. The blast was initially thought to have been caused by a gas leak but may have been a failed attempt to make explosives.

“All signs point to this being a terrorist act and the incident is linked to radical groups who target the kingdom under the pretext of its stance on Gaza,” said Saud al-Sharafat, a former brigadier general with Jordan’s intelligence agency.

US ally Jordan has more than 3,500 US troops stationed at several bases and has been increasingly targeted by Iran-backed groups active in neighbouring Syria and Iraq since the war between Israel and Palestinian groups in Gaza began in October.

Over the past year, Jordan said it had foiled several attempts to smuggle weapons into Syria by groups linked to pro-Iran militias.

Iran has denied being behind such efforts.

Jordanian authorities say most of the weapons are destined for the neighbouring Israeli-occupied West Bank. They also said they had arrested several Jordanians linked to Palestinian fighters.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)