Amman: The State Security Court (SSC) on Wednesday handed down death sentences to three defendants and prison terms of up to 20 years to eight others for their roles in a terrorist operation that took place in the northwestern city of Salt in 2018.
On August 11, 2018, a commando force raided a building in Salt that was believed to be the hideout of a group linked to a terrorist attack with an explosive device the day before against a police vehicle in the nearby town of Fuhais, killing one officer and injuring six others.
The raid on the terrorists’ hideout in Salt left four officers dead and several others injured.
Fourteen defendants were tried in the case on serious terrorism-related charges, including murder, making explosives for use in terrorist operations, funding terrorist organizations, endorsing terrorist ideologies, joining terrorist organizations, selling and transporting weapons and ammunition, among others. Three others were cleared of all charges by the SSC.
According to the indictment, a copy of which was obtained by the Jordan News Agency (Petra), the convicts were disseminating information about the terrorist group “ISIS” among one another and keeping up with the group’s media releases. They all agreed that the terrorist group works to “carry out God’s law,” and they started promoting the organization’s ideas and principles among one another through videos they had obtained from the group.
The convicts all agreed that military transportation buses, security services and patrols, the Salt office of the intelligence department, and the governorate building were potential targets for terrorist military operations. They also agreed on the specifics of how those operations would be carried out, according to the indictment.
Source: Jordan News Agency