Two Americans, one South African shot dead in Jordan

AMMAN - Two American military personnel and one South African were killed when a Jordanian officer went on a shooting spree on Monday at a US-funded security training facility near Amman, Jordan's government spokesman said.

Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said the three victims were all trainers at the police training facility in Al Mwaqqar.

The attacker was later shot dead by the police forces on site, Momani said.

Two other American trainers and four Jordanians were injured in the attack, including one Jordanian in serious condition.

Investigations were underway.

Jordan hosts several hundred US trainers who are part of a military programme to bolster the kingdom's defences, including the stationing of F16 fighter jets that use Jordanian airfields to hit Islamic State positions in neighbouring Syria.

But the kingdom's role in the war against Islamic State has raise disquiet among some Jordanians about instability at their borders and fears that a stepped-up role in the campaign might lead to Islamist attacks in their country.

King Abdullah believes fervently that ultra hardline jihadists pose an existentialist threat to the kingdom.