One killed, one arrested in Jordan al-Qaida crackdown

Police in Jordan killed one suspected al-Qaida member and detained a second in a crackdown today that foiled a terrorist plot against Jordan, the state news agency and officials said.

Police stormed the cell’s hideout in the northern Jordan town of Irbid based on “information on plans by al-Qaida”, the official Petra news agency reported.

Security officials said the two men opened fire at the special police forces and the elite intelligence unit that came to arrest them.

Police shot one man dead, said the officials. The other man is in police custody, they said.

The operation began at 5am local time (3am Irish time) and was continuing, the officials said.

The town of Irbid in the Matlaa’ district lies 50 miles north of the Jordanian capital, Amman.