19 charges filed against defendants in Karak terror trial

AMMAN — The State Security Court (SSC) on Thursday concluded the filing of charges against nine defendants and two fugitives over the Karak terror attack last December, in which 10 people were killed, including four police officers and three gendarmes, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

SSC Attorney General Brigadier General Ziad Odwan said 19 charges were filed against the defendants, including conducting terrorist acts that led to the death of a human being and damaged public facilities, making and possessing explosives, and conspiring to conduct terrorist attacks, in addition to joining armed and terrorist groups. 

In addition to the seven security forces killed in the attack, two Jordanian citizens and a Canadian national died, and dozens of others were injured. 

Odwan said the attack started when a police patrol came under fire in Karak Governorate, 140km south of Amman, followed by shooting from Karak Castle aimed at a police station. 

Karak Castle resumed touristic activity after 18 days of closure following the attack. Local residents expressed their happiness at the reopening of the castle, stressing that Jordan will always remain defiant in the face of terrorism, Petra reported at the time. 

One of the largest Crusader castles in the Levant, with an area of 24,000 square metres, Karak Castle was described as a “dark maze of stone-vaulted halls and endless passageways”, according to the Jordan Tourism Board’s website.