Security ⁠officer killed in stabbing attack in Jordan’s capital

One person has been killed and another wounded in a stabbing attack in Jordan’s capital, Amman.

Jordan’s Public Security Directorate said that a member of its forces was assaulted with a sharp object and died “in a cowardly terrorist attack” on Thursday.

Jordan’s state-run Al-Mamlaka TV reported that the assailant attempted to seize the weapon of the security officer who was killed.

A second security officer intervened to stop him, and both the assailant and the second security officer sustained injuries, Al-Mamlaka added.

It said that the attacker had been arrested.

The Public Security Directorate said a preliminary investigation indicated the attacker had been “planning to commit the terrorist act against the officers of the General Security Directorate”.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Amman reported that after the attack, the injured security officer was transported to hospital with the injured assailant, while authorities began investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The Sri Lankan Embassy in Amman said that the attack took place in its vicinity, the Associated Press news agency reported.

The attack comes weeks after gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a church in southern Jordan, killing nine people and wounding dozens more.

It was not immediately clear if the stabbing was related to the church attack.

Jordan’s King Abdullah said on Monday that “terrorists” would not be allowed to threaten the country’s unity and security, after the deadly church attack prompted Jordanian strikes in Syria.