Four people killed as Jordan police storm house sheltering militants

Jordan says four people were killed during a police raid on a house sheltering militants suspected of being behind a bomb attack on a police van a day earlier.

Security forces on Saturday stormed a building in the city of Salt where suspects behind the planting of the home-made bomb that killed one policeman on Friday were believed to be hiding, reports Reuters.

Government spokeswoman Jumana Ghunaimat told the state news agency Petra that three suspects had been arrested so far in an operation that was still underway against a cell hiding in a building in the centre of hillside Salt city, about 30 km (18 miles) west of Amman.

The suspects had refused to hand themselves over to the security forces and blown up part of the hilltop building, Ghunaimat added.

Later Ghunaimat said security forces were moving to seize the site and see if there were any civilians held hostage.

Witnesses heard several strong explosions near the site which a security source said were explosives being detonated by the police as they closed in on the militants.

Police had earlier blamed a gas canister for Friday’s blast near the site of a music festival in the town of Fuheis.

Ambulances were seen rushing to the main city hospital from near the building in a residential area of Salt that was sealed off by police.