BAQAA: A gunman apparently acting alone killed five Jordanian intelligence agents on Monday in a “terrorist attack” on their office in a Palestinian refugee camp, north of the capital.

Jordan is a leading member of the US-led coalition fighting the militant Islamic State group in neighbouring Iraq and Syria, and has been the target of jihadist attacks in the past.

“The intelligence agency office in the Baqaa camp was the target of a cowardly attack that left five agents dead,” government spokesman Mohammed Momani said.

Momani said security forces were investigating who was responsible for the “terrorist attack” on the first day of Ramazan.

A security source said that preliminary findings suggested the attack was carried out by a lone gunman who opened fire with an automatic weapon before escaping.

The shooting happened as the team members were starting their shift.

It was unclear whether the gunman was a camp resident or an outsider, the source said, adding that experts were poring over the CCTV footage for more clues. Security forces blocked the road to the camp to keep journalists away, a correspondent said.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2016