A Jordanian police officer shot five people dead at a police training facility near Amman on Monday before he was killed in the shootout that ensued. His victims included two Jordanians, two American government security contractors and a South African trainer, Reuters reported. Three Jordanians and a Lebanese person were also injured. The gunman, Abu Anwar Zeid, was a senior police official, and his motive for the attack is not known yet, authorities said.

United States President Barack Obama said he was treating the attack very seriously and that an investigation was underway at the training centre. Jordan is part of a US-led coalition fighting against Islamic State militants, who hold large swathes of land in neighbouring Syria and Iraq, which leaves Jordan vulnerable to terror attacks. A senior Jordanian official told Reuters “This incident sadly does not come as a surprise, as the threat of Islamist terrorism has only increased in the region in the last few years in the aftermath of Syria and Iraq”. However, the connection between the incident and ISIS is unclear.