Jordan jails eleven for joining Islamic State planning attacks

A Jordanian court on Wednesday handed heavy prison terms to 11 people convicted of joining the Daesh group and of planning attacks against churches and security personnel in the kingdom.

Three of the defendants were sentenced in absentia after travelling to Afghanistan in 2019 to join the group in its fight against US forces and the Taliban.

They had stayed in touch with the other eight, who had been arrested ahead of planned attacks in Jordan under the banner of IS.

Their targets included security forces and churches in the Mafraq and Zarqa provinces, according to a charge sheet seen by AFP.

Zarqa was home to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of Iraq’s Al-Qaeda franchise which was the predecessor to Daesh. Zarqawi was killed by a US air strike in 2006.

The eight defendents present in court on Wednesday were sentenced to between five and 15 years, while those who were in Afghanistan were handed terms of nine years.

The eight had been found guilty on charges including “plotting to carry out terrorist acts” and “attempting to join armed groups and terrorist organisations”.

All the defendants were suspected of supporting Daesh.

The Jordanian intelligence services discovered the militants’ plans and arrested them in 2019, according to the charge sheet.

Jordan, a member of the US-led coalition against Daesh in Syria and Iraq, has suffered a number of deadly jihadists attacks including one in December 2016 which left 10 people dead, mostly security personnel.

Source: Arab News