Special to WorldTribune.com

AMMAN — The Jordanian Army has deployed heavy combat platforms near Iraq in an effort to stop Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Officials said the Army was deploying a range of main battle tanks and armored personnel carriers along Jordan’s 181-kilometer border with Iraq.

The officials said the armored force was ready to respond to any ISIL presence along
the Iraqi-Jordanian border.

“The border guards have been in a 24/7 state of alert supported by the
Jordanian armed forces because of what is taking place in Iraq,” Jordanian
Border Guard commander Maj. Gen. Saber Al Mahayrah said.

Much of the Jordanian force was based in the border town of Karameh. The
force consisted of U.S.-origin M-60 MBTs, M113 APCs and Humvee combat
vehicles.

So far, the armored force, backed by air defense units, has not
encountered ISIL or other hostile forces from Iraq. Officials said ISIL
was not detected along the Iraqi border, although rebel Sunni tribes were
believed in control over some crossing points.

“Those who want to travel legally from and to Jordan can do it,” Al
Mahayrah said. “Except for this, we will not allow anyone to enter or leave
Jordan.”

The United States was said to have assisted Jordan’s military deployment
in Iraq. More than 1,000 U.S. soldiers were stationed in the Hashemite
kingdom, many of them working in a command and control facility near the
Jordanian border with Syria.

“U.S. personnel were helping in mobile C2 capabilities, needed to
maintain control over a large area,” an official said.

On June 30, Interior Minister Hussein Al Majali said Jordan helped form
a 400-kilometer buffer zone that was free of ISIL. Majali dismissed a
military threat by ISIL although he acknowledged unrest by its supporters in
southern Jordan.

“We do not fear ISIL’s militants and their pickup trucks,” Majali told
parliamentarians. “Our soldiers and security forces are capable of
protecting our borders.”

  Hussein Al Majali, Jordan sends armored forces to face down ISIL ‘and their pickup trucks’, M-60 MBTs, M113 APCs, Maj. Gen. Saber Al Mahayrah