Despite the unusually heavy death toll, especially among Jordanian security personnel, from confrontations with terrorists over two days in the southern governorate of Karak last week, Jordanians demonstrated resilience, solidarity and defiance.
Ten people, including civilians, were killed during a showdown with a four-member terrorist group that ended in their termination at the historic Karak castle on Dec. 18. Two days later, security forces killed two more and arrested at least two following a face-off with suspected terrorists who had barricaded themselves in a house in another Karak town. Four security personnel were killed.
While details about the terrorists and their objectives remain sketchy, the tragic events underlined the fact that Jordan’s war against radicalism and religious militancy had reached an important milestone.
Although Daesh later claimed that the four slain terrorists were acting on its behalf, it is not clear if the group, comprised entirely of Jordanian nationals, was in fact directly associated with the terrorist organization. A cache of weapons, munitions and explosive vests were uncovered from the group’s hiding place. Later, the authorities announced the arrest of an arms dealer who is believed to have supplied the terror cell with weapons.
Jordan’s war against religious extremists goes back to the late 1980s, when Jordanian fighters — also called Arab Afghans — returned from Afghanistan following the end of Soviet occupation. Some tried to carry out terrorist attacks, and the government responded with force.
More recently, the authorities cracked down on Jordanians attempting to cross the border with Syria to join radical groups. It now appears that the four slain terrorists had previously been arrested for doing precisely that.
The Karak operation, and the circumstances surrounding it, raise important issues. For starters, they point to the grim fact that Jordan now has a serious domestic terrorist challenge, and that while security forces are able to seal off the borders with Syria and Iraq — preventing possible infiltration by terrorists into the country — the real threat is now home-grown.
While the great majority of Jordanians reject radical ideas and the use of religion as a tool to impose social and political change, a minority has been influenced by such dogma, and by the sectarian turmoil that has engulfed the region in the past few years.
Furthermore, while tough security measures represent an immediate and effective response to any threat to Jordan’s stability, a sober approach to the phenomenon of religious radicalism requires that the government forges a medium- and long-term strategy to contain militancy.
This has become a regional and global challenge, one that faces many countries worldwide. The search for the root cause of this phenomenon must continue, and the tools to confront it must be adopted forcefully and courageously.
The strategy should include carrying out plans to develop and reform the education system.
In addition, Jordan should be ready to deal with hundreds of militants returning to the country in the wake of recent developments in Syria. A program to rehabilitate those who surrender themselves to the authorities must be adopted. Society itself must be vigilant and express intolerance toward those embracing takfiri ideology.
For Jordan, dire economic conditions — which have exasperated the problems of youth unemployment and poverty — have a direct link in creating an environment that ferments radicalism, isolationism and militancy. In this particular area, Jordan needs the support of its allies both in the region and in the West.
Finally, the challenge of domestic terrorism cannot be separated from other worrying signs that Jordan has been witnessing in the past few years, such as societal violence, a rise in crime rates, the spread of unregistered weapons in civilian hands, and the overflow of tribal and other supplementary identities at the expense of the national identity, the concept of citizenship, and the law-and-order state.
Luckily, tragic events such as the Karak incident have brought people together, and provided an example of solidarity and support for the security forces. However, it has also highlighted the need to look deep into the evolution of Jordanian society, and how it has been affected by regional turmoil and internal economic and social challenges.
There is no doubt that Jordanians will be able to overcome the threat of domestic terrorism, and that the country will deal effectively with the immediate challenge. However, what is needed is close inspection of factors behind this phenomenon that is alien to Jordanian culture, which underscores plurality, moderation and tolerance.
• Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.
