Jordan thwarts Daesh plot

Jordanian security forces are seen on Dec. 19, 2016, during the funeral of victims who were killed a day earlier in an attack in Karak. (AFP)

Jordanian public security officer stands guard in Irbid in this 2016 file photo. (REUTERS)

JEDDAH: Jordan said on Monday that it thwarted a Daesh plot that included plans for a series of attacks last November on security installations, shopping malls and moderate religious figures, state media reported.
State news agency Petra said that the country’s intelligence department had arrested 17 members of the cell and confiscated weapons and explosives that the militant group had planned to use in the operation.
The statement said the cell had staged a series of bank robberies and car thefts to finance the plot, and manufactured homemade explosives from material bought at local markets. Members of the cell robbed banks in the cities of Russayfah and Zarqa, to the northeast of the capital Amman.
Investigations revealed that the terrorist cell had prepared comprehensive plans for executing its operations, conducted surveillance operations to examine targets, and developed a mechanism for carrying out their attacks.
Mahmoud Irdaizat, a retired Jordanian major general and a former director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the King Abdullah II Academy for Defense Studies, told Arab News on Monday that despite the terrorist militia’s defeat in Iraq and in Syria, it was still active ideologically and had sympathizers and supporters in many places.
“ISIS (Daesh) has collapsed geographically and its so-called Islamic state is pronounced dead in Iraq and in Syria, but it continues to be active in various places across the globe, be it in Jordan or in Sinai or even in the West.
“I don’t think we should just sit and relax after their (terrorists) collapse in Mosul and Raqqa. Any reluctance to keep pressure on them would lead them to grow stronger again. What is needed now is a formulated international strategy to counter the terrorists’ ideology, with a collective international effort to persuade new generations not to embrace ISIS thought,” he said.
“Those extremists have been very active in analyzing and offering fake solutions to angry young men across the Arab world whose frustration has been growing over the years driven by deteriorating economic conditions and high unemployment.
“The war on Daesh has weakened them significantly, nevertheless there are some pockets in areas where the extremists still have some individuals who are keen to implement their evil schemes to cause chaos and undermine the stability of the local community. As the physical caliphate disintegrates they will return to more of their terrorist-like roots and try to either direct or support or inspire attacks outside of the core in Iraq and Syria,” he said.
Irdaizat ruled out Daesh capability to create incubator cells due to its huge losses in the Levant. However, he said, the terrorists could still influence the mindsets of new generations, taking advantage of the instability of some countries.
“We should be ready and expect more terrorist attacks to be revealed in the coming months or maybe years, but how successful these plots will be are dependent on each country’s readiness and the adopted security measures,” he said.
Amman has taken part in a US-led air campaign against Daesh in Syria. Several incidents over the past few years have jolted the country, which has been comparatively unscathed by the uprisings, civil wars and militancy that have swept the Middle East since 2011.