Karak shootout toll rises to seven - PSD

AMMAN —  Four Public Security Department (PSD) personnel, two citizens and a Canadian tourist were shot dead by unknown assailants in the southern city of Karak on Sunday, according to an updated PSD statement.

By Sunday evening, an operation against the unknown attackers was still ongoing, according to the statement, which estimated their number at around five to six people.

The statement said there were people who were injured in the shootout, but did not give any number or details.

The PSD urged citizens in Karak, 150 kilometres south of Amman, to take caution and to follow security updates.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Hani Mulki said several people were killed during a security operation in Karak.

He said Special Forces have surrounded an area in the southern city where 10 of the suspected attackers were entrenched in.

Addressing a Parliament session, the premier said there was no information on the attackers, describing them as “outlaws”.

He said the incident started in Qatraneh town, north of Karak, when the unknown assailants opened fire from a cafe’s rooftop on a police patrol. Later on, he said, they targeted other patrols in the Karak governorate.