Recent Irbid clash sparked by first ISIS attack on Jordanian security target

DEBKAfile’s military sources report: The clash reported last Wednesday between Jordanian forces and armed terrorists at Irbid was in fact part of a multiple ISIS attack on the kingdom’s General Intelligence Directory – its first against a security target inside Jordan. An ISIS gang managed to cross in from Syria, in spite of dense Jordanian border security, and link up with a local sleeper cell at Irbid, 2 km inside the border. Together, they attacked the intelligence building, which houses the command center for coordinating the kingdom’s operations among rebel militias in southern Syria. In the four-hour battle, two Jordanian officers were killed and 13 jihadists captured. The rest escaped. These official figures are incomplete. Missing are figures on how many Jordanian servicemen and ISIS terrorists died in the battle.