Jordan terrorism... breaking news

Serious terrorist attack in Amman.

AP:  "Explosions hit three hotels in the Jordanian capital Wednesday night, and at least 18 people were killed and 120 wounded."  Grand Hyatt, Radisson, Days Inn.  Al-Jazeera is reporting five dead, and dozens wounded, but I suspect the higher numbers are closer to accurate and likely to grow.

Impossible to say more yet about the target, the perpetrators, or the motives.... such building domestic political frustration, so many Americans and Iraqis in Amman, so much Islamist animus towards Jordan (Zarqawi's origins are there, of course, and bin Laden has named Jordan as a primary target).   I'll update as more information starts to come in.   

How horrible....

UPDATE:  a Jordanian security official told al-Jazeera that it was a suicide attack.
UPDATE 4:37: now they are saying that all three were suicide attacks;  earlier, it was reported that one of the bombs had been concealed inside the hotel.  No claims of responsibility, but most fingers are pointing to al-Qaeda, due to the "simultaneous multiple bombs" calling card, and to Zarqawi because he's always attacking his home country.
6:15  ... now 57 dead and over 300 wounded.
UPDATE... and now a claim of responsibility.  AP:  "Al-Qaida claimed responsibility Thursday for three suicide bomb attacks on Western hotels that killed at least 56 people, linking the deadly blasts to the war in and calling Amman the "backyard garden" for U.S. operations."

Comments

[Nur al-Cubicle]

"Steel Curtain" dividend...

From AFP (translated from French). At least three blasts occurred in Amman starting at 21:00 local time. The first blast struck the Radisson SAS, a 5-star hotel in western Amman. The bomb was hidden above the ceiling tiles. 10 wounded reported.

The second blast struck the Grand Hyatt nearly simultaneously. 40 were wounded. The third explosion struck the Days Inn Hotel. 70 persons thought wounded.

Jordanian police blamed al-Qaeda.

[Nur al-Cubicle]

From El Mundo (Madrid)

At least 23 people are dead and 120 wounded after three explosions targeting Amman’s luxury Hotels.

First explosion occured in front of hotel Radission in the al-Abdali quarter of west Amman. The blast struck a banquet room where 250 guests were attending a wedding reception. The hotel is said to be preferred by Israeli tourists.

The second blast struck the Hyatt in Hussein bin Ali Street while the third struck the Days Inn.

No Islamic group has claimed responsibility. Jordanian security forces say they have dismantled at least 10 al-Qaeda cells in the last two years.

King Abdallah II has condemned the bombings insisting that Jordan will not be intimidated in the war on terror.

In one of the hotels, a Citroen automobile show had just closed.

[Collounsbury]

Well, bloody hell. Just missed those. Days Inn is a well known drinking spot I may add.

Better check in.

[praktike]

I'll bet dollars to donuts that a fair number of Iraqis were hit, too.

[Ghurab al-Bain]

Most of those killed seemed to have been at a Jordanian wedding celebration at the Radisson. Al-Jazeera with their typical vulgarity keeps asking each guest whether perhaps there were Israelis or Americans or some other acceptable category of victim in their eyes. Their very capable correspondent in Amman (Yaser Abu Hilaleh) twice had to emphasize that the victims were overwhelmingly Jordanians and that the hotels are nowhere near the Israeli Embassy.

[Nur al-Cubicle]

El Pais: 67 dead, 200 wounded

At least 67 are dead said Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Maruan al Muasher, who did not confirm the number of wounded, which police say are at least 200.

At the Hotel Radission, witnesses say they saw the dead laid out in the lobby, where a wedding banquet was being held at the time of the blast.

The King of Jordania, Abdullah II, is in Kazakhstan on an official visit but has made at statement.. The hand of justice will capture the criminals who targeted innocent civilians with their cowardly acts.

[Nur al-Cubicle]

Wrap-up: L'Orient le Jour

67 dead, 300 wounded. 50 of the dead are Jordanian nationals.

Blast at 5-star hotel Radisson SAS struck the Philadelphia ballroom during wedding reception. Bomb behind plant.
Blast at 5-star hotel Hyatt struck the entrance. Unknown how.
Blast at 3-star hotel Days Inn, close to Israeli Embassy, struck the entrance. Car bomb. Several east Asians dead.

Jordan has sealed its borders for an undetermined length of time. Tomorrow official day of mourning. Banks and businesses will be closed.

Source:
http://www.lorient-lejour.com.lb/library/images/pdf/1110001.pdf
http://www.lorient-lejour.com.lb/library/images/pdf/1110011.pdf

[raf*]

aa-

by now we all have better information on the attacks. my friends & colleagues in amman (just last week lucky me left for an out-of-town trip ...) say that the whole city is under virtual lock-down.

this will significantly change the situation in jordan, particularly the oftentimes benign-to-supportive attitudes of many locals towards the iraqi "resistance", incl. al-zarqawi. if, as a statement claims, he & his group are indeed behind the attacks then it their choice of targets was mindbogglingly stupid. a wedding reception??? there are plenty of "western" targets in amman to hit that aren't as fortified as the u.s. or israeli embassies or the bri'ish council ...

i don't know quite understand why "nur al-cubicle" would call it "'steel curtain' dividend" - or was that the title of the afp story?

--raf*

[hummbumm]

Steel curtain is the US operation in western Iraq. Thus Nur al cubicle is indirectly blaming the US for the Jordan attacks. God forbid that anything bad happens in the region without the US being blamed. I mean it is not like this is the same Zarqawi who has plotted attacks in Jordan since well before the Iraq war!