Special to WorldTribune.com

AMMAN — Jordan has bolstered security measures amid the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant from neighboring Iraq and Syria.

Officials said the military and intelligence community have been on alert for infiltration by ISIL from Iraq and Syria.

They did not rule out that ISIL could use Jordan as a waystation for operations around the Levant.

“Our armed forces and security agencies are fully prepared to protect
Jordan from any repercussions that might result from developments in Syria
and Iraq,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said.

In a meeting with members of parliament on June 16, Judeh said the
Hashemite kingdom was closely following ISIL’s advance in northern Iraq. The
foreign minister said Amman did not envision an influx of refugees from
Iraq. So far, nearly 1 million Syrians have flooded Jordan since the war in
Syria in 2011.

“We have taken all required measures to deal with an emergency,”
Interior Minister Hussein Majali said.

On June 23, Jordan’s military declared a state of alert in the eastern
portion of the kingdom. Officials said the military and security forces sent
reinforcements, including elements of the army’s 3rd and 5th divisions, to
the Iraqi frontier to prevent ISIL infiltration.

“The security forces have obtained information of confrontations on the
other side [of the border],” Jordanian Information Minister Mohammed Al
Momani told the Saudi-owned A-Sharq Al Awsat daily. “The armed forces are
taking the necessary precautions.”

At one point, ISIL was said to have captured the Iraqi border crossing
to Jordan, called Turaibil. On late June 23, Jordanian forces, in
cooperation with tribes from Iraq’s Anbar province, expelled ISIL from
Turaibil. Later, ISIL was said to have tried to capture an Iraqi facility
along the border with Saudi Arabia.

“There is no decision to close the border yet, but traffic is limited,”
Al Momani, referring to Turaibil, said.

On June 16, authorities released a leading Al Qaida-aligned operative
jailed since 2011. Issam Barqawi, known as Abu Mohammed Al Maqdesi and
known as a mentor to the late ISIL commander Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, had been
accused of recruiting and financing fighters for the Taliban war in
Afghanistan.

Officials said the military has added patrols and other operations along
its border with Iraq. They also cited the operation of a U.S.-origin border
security system.

“Should ISIS establish a foothold in Iraq’s Sunni-majority provinces, it
would start thinking about expanding towards Jordan,” Jordanian analyst Fahd
Al Khaitan said.

  Anbar province, ISIL, Jordan beefs up border security against ISIL threat, Nasser Judeh