Three suspected militants and four members of security forces killed as building collapses during raid in Jordan

Alleged assailants in hideout open fire and set off explosions in town of Salt

Bodies of three suspected militants have been pulled from the rubble of a hideout in Jordan, a government official said, hours after it partially collapsed during a raid.

Alleged assailants opened fire and set off explosions that killed four members of the security forces attempting to storm the building on Saturday night, officials said.

The clash was among the deadliest between suspected militants and Jordanian security forces in recent years.

It raised new concerns about attempts by domestic and foreign militants to carry out attacks and destabilise the pro-western kingdom.

Jordan has played a key role in an international military coalition that helped push back Isis in neighbouring Syria and Iraq.

The chain of events in Jordan began on Friday when assailants detonated a homemade bomb under a police car guarding a music festival in the predominantly Christian town of Fuheis, west of the capital of Amman.

The blast, labelled a terrorist attack by Jordan’s prime minister, killed a police officer.

Jordanian authorities did not say what motivated the Fuheis attackers, and there was no claim of responsibility.

Security forces chasing the suspects zeroed in on a multistorey building in the town of Salt, near Fuheis, and attempted to storm it late on Saturday. The suspects holed up inside opened fire and set off powerful explosions, officials said. A wing of the building collapsed.

In initial statements, government spokesperson Jumana Ghunaimat said three members of the security forces were killed. She said on Sunday that a fourth officer had died and that the bodies of three suspects were pulled from the rubble. Five suspects are in custody.

The Hala Akhbar news website, linked to Jordan’s military, said the suspects were Jordanians and that the cell had planned to attack security installations and other sensitive targets. The site said the suspects had been armed with explosives, grenades and weapons.

Jordan has been a target for attacks by Isis in recent years.

In June 2016, a cross-border car bombing launched from Syria killed seven Jordanian border guards. In December 2016, a shootout at a Crusader castle in the southern town of Karak left 14 people dead, including seven members of the security forces, four militants and three civilians.

Jordan is considered to an important security ally, particularly by the US and Israel, which view any signs of unrest there with concern.

The kingdom has cracked down on suspected militants in recent years, imposing prison terms of several years for suspected sympathisers, including those expressing support for militant ideology on social media.

At the same time, hopelessness and alienation among some of the kingdom’s young people, driven by high youth unemployment, have provided fertile ground for recruitment by militant groups.

Additional reporting by AP