Jordanian air strike destroyed Al Qaeda raider force heading for US military base

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 17, 2014,

combatJordanian air strike destroyed combat vehicles

 

The Royal Jordanian Air force strike Wednesday, April 16, against a combat vehicle convoy from Syria destroyed an Al Qaeda raider force on its way to attack US military targets in the kingdom, DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal. Jordan’s first assault on a target outside the country took place on the Syrian side of the border opposite the eastern town of Ruwaished.
 
This episode brought to the fore how dramatically the threat al Qaeda-Iraq poses to Jordan, the US forces based their and Israel has escalated.

 
Amman has not disclosed where the air strike took place, who rode in the destroyed armored vehicles and where they came from.
 
According to DEBKAfile’s counterterrorism sources, they were driven by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) fighters, coming from the western Iraqi province of Anbar. To avoid running into Jordanian military formations around Ruwaished, the group moved through Syria in the Abu Kemal region and, after refueling and collecting extra fighters and arms, turned south and aimed for the Jordanian border, where their expedition was abruptly brought to a close.
 
Our intelligence sources report that their target was a secret US-Jordanian training facility situated west of Ruwaished, where Iraqi army troops are being instructed in advanced counter terror combat tactics. At the end of these courses, the graduates return to their units, better able to put up a fight against the al Qaeda forces continuing to overrun large swathes of their country, and posing a real danger to Baghdad.
 
This episode broke new ground in more than one area.
 
It was the first ISIS operation directed against the American military presence in Jordan, and also the first time the jihadists used stealth to creep through a crack between the Jordanian, Iraqi and Syrian borders.
 
ISIS planners were well aware of the two full divisions the Jordanian army had strung out along its borders with Syria and Iraq, to seal the kingdom off from Islamist terrorist incursions. Those planners were crafty enough to find away around this barrier.
 
However, many Jordanians have joined up with the Al Qaeda branches of Iraq and Syria. It is thought to be only a matter of time before they return to home ground fired up with the jihadist doctrine of terror.
 
The Jordanians don’t say how they knew the ISIS vehicle convoy was heading their way. It stands to reason that US or Jordanian surveillance aircraft detected the vehicles on the move. Since there was no time to drop Jordanian commandos to apprehend the terrorists in Syria before they crossed the border, it was decided in a hurried conference between Amman and Washington to send the Jordanian air force into action. The commanders likely used the US Command and Control Headquarters established near Amman a year ago to maintain close US-Jordanian military coordination.

April 18, 2014 | 3 Comments »
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  3. From TIP:

    The Associated Press late Thursday conveyed a statement from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) announcing that an agreement had been reached between its members, a deal that the wire described as “a possible first step toward bridging deep rifts among its six energy-rich Arab states,” while Arabic media outlets quoted Oman’s Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf bin Alawi declaring that the relationship between the countries was “all clear.” The talks had seen Kuwait and Oman seek to dampen tensions between Qatar, on the one hand, and Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain on the other. The three Gulf countries recently withdrew their ambassadors from Doha to protest what they described as interference in their internal affairs, a not particularly veiled gesture toward Qatari support for the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar and the Brotherhood had in recent years aligned regionally with Turkey, opposite a de facto camp composed of huge swaths of the Arab world plus Israel. Those two blocs had in recent years competed not just with each other but also against a third camp anchored by Iran. Qatar’s geopolitical gambles on Turkish and Brotherhood ascendency failed to pay off, and the country found its regional position slipping badly. This week’s GCC conference was held to provide the Qataris with a way to come back into the Gulf fold. It is not clear how much was substantively achieved at the meeting, however, and in any case it is unlikely that broader regional realignments will occur in the short term. The insidery Intelbrief, published by The Soufan Group, assessed Thursday that “Saudi Arabia and Turkey are maneuvering to position themselves as the leader of the Sunni Islamic world,” with both deploying resources to “oppose Iranian expansion in the region” but differing in their posture toward the Muslim Brotherhood. The write-up emphasized, by way of caveat, that “even when it comes to their common regional foe Iran, the two agree on some principles but not the details,” with Saudi Arabia strongly opposing engagement with the Islamic republic in contrast to Turkey’s “extensive ties with Iran.” The Obama administration has been blasted by domestic analysts and foreign diplomats for what those critics insist is insufficient support for the bloc composed of Washington’s Arab allies. Agence France-Presse (AFP) today published leaks blaming the recent replacement of Saudi Arabia’s spy chief on U.S. pressure, after Prince Bandar bin Sultan angrily criticized Washington on the issue in front of Western diplomats.

    HMMMMM? as I predicted the so called Saudi Qatar split is a show, a drama, put on to distance saudi from terror support, reinvent saudi as moderate, put 2 layers between Obama and Saudi terror support and maintain the GCC hegemony over the sunni jihadis through both Saudi and qatar pretending to represent 2 sides. Good cop bad cop. IN the end, without any break, the GCC has maintained its control of the sunni jihadis. Next we shall see the rapprochement of the west to Sisi after the egyptian election with the excuse that the elections was free, fair, and represented the will of the people. The EU is already discussing monitoring the election at Sisi request. Jihadis are now increasing their attacks within Iraq, including Baghdad, next they might be moving to Iran if no “deal” is reached.
    RE ISIS/ISIL there are questions as to whether it is actually the remnant of the baathists who were aiding sadaam and worked with syria.