“In the absence of any other obvious motive for the shooting it will be assumed that the killings were intended as an act of solidarity with militant groups in the Middle East.”

“Jordan policeman kills American and South African trainers,” BBC, November 9, 2015:

A Jordanian policeman has opened fire at a police training centre outside Amman, killing two Americans, a South African and a Jordanian, officials say.

The Jordanian embassy in Washington said the assailant wounded five others, including two Americans and three Jordanians, before being shot dead.

President Barack Obama said the US was taking the attack “very seriously”.

The US-funded Jordan International Police Training Centre (JIPTC) hosts mainly Palestinian and Iraqi officers.

Civilian contractors from the US and elsewhere assist Jordanian police trainers at the facility in Muwaqqar, on the eastern outskirts of Amman.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani told the Associated Press that an investigation had been launched into whether the motive for Monday’s shooting attack at the JIPTC was personal or political.

The assailant was a senior trainer with the rank of captain, a Jordanian security source was quoted as saying by Reuters….

BBC Middle East correspondent Kevin Connolly says the kingdom of Jordan steers a strongly pro-Western course in the turbulent waters of the Middle East.

It hosts joint military exercises with countries like the US and UK, and strongly supports the US-led coalition against Islamic State militants in Syria.

In the absence of any other obvious motive for the shooting it will be assumed that the killings were intended as an act of solidarity with militant groups in the Middle East, our correspondent adds.

The incident comes on the 10th anniversary of bombing attacks by al-Qaeda in Iraq on three hotels in Amman which killed more than 50 people.

RELATED ARTICLE: Jordanian MP’s son joins Islamic State, dies in jihad suicide attack