Salt citizens relive ‘nightmare’ of the raid on terrorist hideout

AMMAN — Amjad Al Bqour was sitting with his family in Salt’s Naqb Addabour area, northwest of Amman, when he heard loud police sirens on Saturday, which triggered his curiosity. He rushed to the balcony and saw no less than 15 armoured vehicles surrounding a building just near his house.

“I saw dozens of security forces. I though they came to arrest some wanted criminals. A few minutes after blocking the street, the security forces started using loudspeakers calling on those hiding in the building, which is just a few metres away from my house, to surrender and leave the building,” Bqour recalled.

“It was around 7:00 pm and my kids started asking me what the loud noise was. I was afraid and asked them to go back to their bedrooms,” he continued.

“The security forces kept using the loudspeakers for almost an hour, urging those in the building to surrender. Then, suddenly I heard heavy firing coming from the building on the security forces and, a few minutes after, I heard a big ‘bang’ and saw part of the building collapse,” the father of four remembered.

He said he saw a huge cloud of dust followed by a series of explosions and heavy exchange of fire. “I panicked and the chandeliers in my house started shaking. My kids started crying and I hugged them and asked them to stay with their mother inside their rooms,” he told The Jordan Times.

The area near Bqour’s house was the scene of a raid by security forces on a group of terrorists that resulted in the death of four officers, three terrorists and the arrest of five others.

“All neighbours rushed to the rooftops in panic. They started taking pictures and videos…it was a crazy scene. Residents of the area started to go to the streets and the police forces asked them to return to their houses. We then learned that it was a raid to arrest terrorists,” he said.

Bqour described the scene as “a nightmare”, recalling how some people started driving their cars away while others called their relatives to check on them. Scores of people were in the streets, wondering about the situation.

“We heard the exchange of fire until midnight and, even after that, we saw security forces combing the area in search of terrorists,” he said, adding that “everybody in our area was shocked…it is a small place and we know each other here”. 

The ground floor apartment of the building that was blown up was rented by someone from his family six months ago. “We do not know anything about them, except that the house was rented to them early this year,” he said.

Saddam Kloub, a resident of the area whose house is close to the building that was blown up, said: “I heard a bang when I was in my house. My kids were scared and I closed the windows immediately.”

“I did not see the building collapsing but it was like an earthquake…People in the area were awake until the early hours Sunday…We never thought that our small and quiet town would be the place for such a huge raid on terrorists,” Kloub said.

Meanwhile, Munther Harasees, a resident of an area close to the building where the terrorists barricaded themselves, was sipping coffee on his balcony when it all started.

“I saw a large number of armoured and police vehicles speeding to the top of a hill in front of my house. I thought a high ranking official was on a visit to the area…but a few minutes after, I heard heavy exchange of fire then I realised that something serious was going on,” Harasees said.

“I thought there was some sort of war going on because of the heavy exchange of fire…Rooftops were full of people watching…I do not think I will forget that night…it was a nightmare for all of us. God bless the souls of the officers who died and we must take revenge from the terrorists,” he said, adding “although we were scared for a while, we have deep trust in our security forces and I can tell that we are all united in the face of such terrorists”.