King Abdullah II of Jordan on Wednesday discussed military cooperation with visiting US Army Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley.
According to the Petra News Agency, the meeting also touched on challenges facing the Middle East region, in particular, the danger of extremism and terrorism.
Bilateral ties, namely military cooperation were also discussed.
The meeting was attended by HRH Prince Faisal Bin AL Hussein, the King’s Advisor and Chairman of the National Policy Council.
On Tuesday, four Jordanian security personnel were killed during a raid on a suspected terrorist hideout in the southern governorate of Karak, a senior security source announced.
The source said that Security Forces had successfully concluded the operation in the governorate, while enough personnel are still on active combing operation to purge the area of all outlaws.
During the operation, the source said, 7 Public Security Department personnel, 3 Gendarmerie Officers and a Civil Defence Department Officer were injured as well as a civilian who happened to be at the scene of the raid.
The source explained that the operation started Tuesday afternoon during a search campaign of a suspect house connected to those involved in Sunday's attack in Karak. The operation resulted in the killing of a terrorist and arresting of another one, who confessed that he was part of the terrorist cell that targeted security forces in Qatrana and Karak Castle.
The terrorist also confessed he bought the weapons used during the attack and provided the terrorist with funds. Security Forces seized weapons and ammunitions stashed in the terrorist's house.
Jordan’s Security Forces will continue to hit with an iron fist anyone who tries to tamper with the Kingdom's security or harm its citizens and guests, the source vowed.
On another development, the Jordanian government signed with its Japanese counterpart on Wednesday, a $254 million grant agreement to enhance the financial situation and support development policies to reform public services in the Kingdom.
The agreement was signed by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury and the Japanese Ambassador to Jordan Shuichi Sakurai and chief representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency in Amman.
Fakhoury said in a statement that the loan is the third that supports the general budget in order to address challenges that face the Kingdom due to the influx of a large number of Syrian refugees to the Kingdom.
The loan, he added, comes in light of His Majesty King Abdullah’s visit to Japan last October.
The Minister praised Japan’s continued support to Jordan as well as its understanding of the economic and social challenges facing the Kingdom due to hosting 1.4 million Syrian refugees.
According to official figures, Jordan has received assistance from Japan totaling $1.021 billion since 1999, $491.2 million of which are in the form of grants and the rest as soft loans.
