Jordanian police armed with machine-guns fought a pitched battle with a band of 15 similarly armed Arab irregulars in the streets of Amman, the London Times reported from the Jordanian capital today. The irregulars, wearing uniforms, tried to storm a police station to rescue a comrade who had been arrested for questioning. A civilian bystander was killed and a civilian and four policemen were wounded, according to the Times report. Two of the attackers were reportedly arrested.
The Times said the battle was the first sign since last June’s Arab-Israeli war that Jordanian authorities appeared willing and able to act against self-styled Fedayeen. The gunmen were described as bogus Fedayeen, belonging to none of the three main guerrilla organizations operating from Jordanian soil. Fake commandoes have proliferated in Jordan to take advantage of popular admiration of El Fatah and other terrorist groups that raid Israel. In recent months there have been many reports of civilians, including foreigners, being accosted by self-styled commandoes demanding “donations.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
