Jihadist dies in Jordan following Syria skirmish

AMMAN — A Jordanian jihadist died in Amman on Tuesday from wounds sustained in Syria amid a growing exodus of young Jordanians joining Syrian Islamist militias.

Abu Baker Obeideh Al Qaramseh, a 23-year-old Maan resident, died at his family’s home less than 48 hours after returning from Syria, local Islamist sources told The Jordan Times.

Qaramseh, a member of the hard-line Jihadi Salafist movement, had served alongside the Al Qaeda-linked Jabhat Al Nusra coalition in southern Syria over the past five months, according to Mohammad Shalabi, or Abu Sayyaf, head of the jihadist movement. 

Qaramseh’s death brings the total number of Jordanians reportedly killed while battling Syrian regime forces alongside Islamist militants to over 200, Islamist sources say.

An increasing number of Jordanians are reportedly joining Islamist militants in Syria, with some 2,300 crossing into Syria to join jihadist groups over the past two weeks alone, according to Jordanian and Syrian Islamist sources.

Over 2,200 Jordanians are currently fighting in Syria, the vast majority reportedly serving under the banner of Jabhat Al Nusa or its rival, former Al Qaeda affiliate the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.