aid groups helping in neighboring Iraq, was rocked by bomb blasts late Wednesday, November 9, killing at least 67 people and injuring over 150 others, government officials said.
Three apparent suicide attackers detonated nearly simultaneous explosions Wednesday night at hotels in downtown Amman, said Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher. The blasts occurred at the Radisson Hotel, the Days Inn Hotel and the Grand Hyatt Hotel between 9 pm and 10 pm local time news reports said.
The three US-based international hotels are located within a few hundred yards of each other.
Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said the largest blast occurred at the Radisson during a wedding celebration, set off by a suicide bomber wearing a belt packed with explosives. Most of the casualties there were Jordanian, the Cable News Network (CNN) quoted him as saying.
The blast at the Grand Hyatt also appeared to have been caused by a bomber wearing an explosive belt, he said, while the Days Inn blast occurred when a car attempted to cross a security barrier, could not, and exploded outside the hotel.
AL-QAIDA SUSPECTED
Deputy Prime Minister Muasher told CNN earlier that the explosions indicated the involvement of al-Qaida, which has launched coordinated attacks on high-profile, Western targets in the past. He said there was no claim of responsibility, but Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born leader of al-Qaida in Iraq was "a suspect."
Jordan is a key US ally in the Middle East and has long been regarded as a prime target for attacks by radical Islamic militants, analysts say. Muslim militants have also criticized Jordan for making peace with Israel.
The attacks came as a major setback for Jordan which had tried to boost income by attracting Christian tourists to several sites mentioned in the Bible, BosNewsLife established.
KING CONDEMNS ATTACKS
King Abdullah, who had been planning to visit Israel, the Westbank and the United States, condemned the "terrorist attacks" and pledged that "justice will pursue the criminals", news reports said.
At the Hayett, BBC Correspondent Caroline Hawley reported that windows were blown out by the blast, and said she saw several badly wounded people. The reporter, who was staying at the hotel, added there was "little security apparent at the hotel prior to the blast."
"It was a miracle that we made it out with a scratch," another British guest at the Grand Hyatt told reporters.
WEDDING PARTY
The blast ripped through the Radisson during a wedding party with at least 300 guests. At least five people were killed and 20 wounded in that explosion, news reports said.
"We thought it was fireworks for the wedding but I saw people falling to the ground," added Ahmed, a wedding guest who did not give his surname, in an interview with AP.
"I saw blood. There were people killed. It was ugly."
BREAKING SECURITY
Ayman al-Safadi, editor of Jordan’s Al-Ghad newspaper, reportedly told Al-Arabiya satellite network that it was a "terrorist operation". "Finally, the terrorists succeeded in breaking the security in Jordan," he said, referring to past success in foiling many terror plots.
No details have emerged so far of the names or nationalities of the victims.
It was unclear how the bombs would impact aid operations from Christian and other relief groups operating from Amman into Iraq. Jordan was previously seen as a relative save base for missionaries returning from Iraq. Killings of church workers took mainly place in Iraq itself, for instance on the main road from Jordan towards Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. (With reports from Jordan and Iraq and BosNewsLife’s Stefan J.Bos).
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