A bomb placed under a police car
exploded at a music festival in Fuheis on 10 August 2018, according to AP News reporting on 13 August. In the explosion at the mainly Christian town close to Amman, one police officer died. A further four members of Jordan"s security forces were killed as the attackers were chased to the nearby town of Salt where further explosions and shooting took place. Three of the Jordanian militants were killed and a further five were arrested, all clearly supporting Islamic State group (IS) ideology. Stockpiles of explosives for further attacks were uncovered by police.
Henriette Kats, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "This attack in August took place in a predominantly Christian town at a music festival. Radical Islam rejects both, hence making the festival at Fuheis a clear target for those adhering to this ideology. This incident underlines Jordan"s continued vulnerability following the
last attack in December 2016 at Karak"s crusader castle (BBC News, 20 December 2016). In spite of the Jordanian government"s efforts to combat radical Islamic inroads, militants still have a strong presence in the country. It is the high levels of youth unemployment which are proving to be a fertile ground for recruitment by Islamic militants."
Henriette Kats continues: "Although the militants behind this current attack allegedly did not fight with IS abroad, almost
2000 Jordanians are known to have been fighting with IS forces in Iraq and Syria (US National Bureau of Economic Research, April 2016). As the war in Syria seems to be drawing to an end, Jordanian Islamic militants are likely to return to their home-country, thus posing an additional security risk to all those who do not agree with their strict Islamic theology, both Christians and Muslims alike."
