Suicide Bombing Kills Six Soldiers in Jordanian-based Refugee Camp

A pick-up truck rigged with explosives was detonated near a Jordanian army post in the Jordanian-based refugee camp at Ruqban. The suicide-bombing killed six members of Jordan’s security forces and wounded 14 others.

The military stated that the explosion occurred at 5:30 a.m. local time inside the Ruqban encampment where thousands of Syrian refugees are thought to be taking shelter. According to a Ruqban resident, the truck smashed through the gates of the compound and then exploded. Following the explosion, he claimed to have heard sounds of gunfire.

So far, there has been no claim of responsibility to the attack.

Ruqban, a desert border town in northern Jordan, is best known for its recent influx of Syrian refugees. Since the cessation of violence that was publicly declared in February, thousands of Syrians have traveled through the desert to take refuge in Ruqban.

Though the city itself lies only miles from the three-state borderline between Iraq, Jordan, and Syria, aid groups and even the Jordanian military supposedly had limited access to the encampment until recently. The camp’s proximity to demilitarized zones around Syria is cited as the primary reason.

Middle East Eye first reported on the status of the camp on June 15th, describing it as a limbo between war zone and refugee camp. Their evidence of the environment of the camp came from a video posted online by an individual affiliated with the Lions of the East, a relatively low profile Syrian rebel group,.

The Lions of the East were established in April of 2016 in Ruqban.  Reportedly an ally to the West and Jordanian-backed Southern Front coalition, the Lions claimed to have been given CIA training as well as received military trucks, ammunition, and weapons from an Amman-based military center.

According to a spokesperson for the Lions, the group has undertaken efforts to provide security in and around the camp to secure the camp and the Jordanian state from the risk of Islamic State agents and sympathizers infiltrating into Jordan through Ruqban.

The Ruqban attack is the largest of three terrorist attacks on Jordanian security forces in the past year. The most recent attack occurred in another refugee camp on June 6th, when a gunman opened fire on Jordanian Intelligence officials at a compound in Baq’a. The attack caused five deaths and the perpetrator was thought to have ties to jihadist groups.

June 21st’s suicide bombing in Ruqban represents the larger threat to border security the Jordanian government faces from the rise of ad-hoc Syrian refugee camps. With thousands entering the country each month, officials are struggling to secure the border and the larger Jordanian and refugee population from terror groups attempting to gain entry.

Once inside the state, enemies of the Jordanian government could conduct deadly operations in attempts to destabilize the government. A number of actors, notably Iran, the Assad regime, The Muslim Brotherhood (including Hamas), and certainly Islamic State, have an interest in a destabilized Jordanian government. Ultimately, the attack in Ruqban is another example of the pressing need to improve refugee screening and security processes.