Jordan seals last entry point for Syrian refugees after suicide blast

Jordan sealed its last entry point for Syrianrefugees Tuesday after a cross-border suicide attack killed sixmembers of the Jordanian security forces, wounded 14 and exposed thepro-Western kingdom's growing vulnerability to spillover fromconflict next door.

The closure raised questions about the fate of tens of thousandsof Syrian refugees who are stranded in remote desert areas along theborder, many of them for months, and depend on daily deliveries offood and water from the Jordanian side.

Jordansaiditssecuritycomesfirst.GovernmentspokesmanMohammedMomanisaid Jordan had warned for months that militants,including those from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria group, are mingling withrefugees in the two rapidly expanding encampments on the border andpose a serious security threat.

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"The border will be closed," Momani told reporters. "We willnot allow the crossing of people or vehicles through that area."

King Abdullah II said in a statement that Jordan will "respondwith an iron fist" to anyone harming its borders or security, butdid not lay out specifics.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assault,the third against Jordanian security installations in seven months.

CBC News'sMiddle East correspondent DerekStoffel saidthe kingdom has "struggled to crack down" on ISIS sympathizers.

The government has "jailed hundreds of people who have been promoting jihadism online," Stoffelsaid from Jerusalem. It is also "under a great strain" because of the roughly 600,000 Syrian refugees who live in Jordanian communities and refugee camps.

Suicide attack

Tuesday's attack was launched at dawn near Rukban, the larger ofthe two border camps.

The assailant drove a truck packed with explosives at high speedthrough an opening in the border, said Momani. "It reached our sideof the border and it ended up exploding with the driver inside," hesaid.

The military said the blast targeted a Jordanian army post.

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A Rukban resident said he saw a pickup truck crashing through aJordanian border gate. Seconds later, a blast went off, followed bythe sound of shooting, said the resident, who spoke to TheAssociated Press over the phone from the area. He spoke on conditionof anonymity for fear of repercussions from the authorities.

Cellphone photos from the camp show a cloud of grey smoke risingin the distance, with tents in the foreground.

Rukban and the smaller Hadalat camp house about 64,000 Syrians,according to estimates by international aid agencies. The camps havealso attracted smugglers, war profiteers and members of variousarmed groups fighting in Syria's civil war.

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The camps are located between two berms, or earthen barriers,that run parallel to the border, which is not clearly marked in thearea. Rukban is just a few kilometresfrom the point where Syria, Jordanand Iraq meet.

In recent weeks, international agencies stepped up deliveries ofwater, food and medical care for refugees at the berm. Aid workersset up makeshift delivery points on the Jordanian side every day andrefugees climbed over the berm to pick up food parcels, get firstaid or register with the UNrefugee agency.

The arrangement kept aid workers and Jordanian troops out of thecamps for security reasons. Instead, Jordanian troops stood on topof the southern berm to monitor distributions, firing tear gas orshooting in the air if order broke down.

In recent weeks, aid agencies had won Jordan's agreement to setup more prefab trailers in the area to improve distribution andrefugee registration.

Momani said Tuesday that those plans were now on hold.

Instead, "we will be discussing ways through which we can sendaid to the people on the other side of the border," he said, addingthat details would be worked out by the UNrefugee agency and theJordanian military.

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He did not elaborate. It's not clear how long refugees in theencampments can hold out without daily aid shipments.

The UNrefugee agency said it is aware of heightened securityrestrictions, but will seek to provide continued support to therefugees. "A key issue will be to ensure the continued provision ofwater to this desolate location, given the inhospitableenvironment," said spokesman Andreas Needham in Geneva.

Even before the attack, conditions in the camps weredeteriorating. Refugees are exposed to the extreme desert climateand mounds of garbage grow by the day.

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