Jordan foiled IS plan to kill Israeli soldiers along border: report

Jordanian intelligence in February thwarted a plot by the Islamic State group to kill Israeli soldiers along its border, a local daily revealed Monday evening.

Jordan’s Al-Rai newspaper said the country's General Intelligence Department foiled a plan by four alleged IS members to attack and kill Israeli soldiers in the Ghor Al-Safi area, near the southern Dead Sea in the Jordan Valley.

The report, based on an indictment issued by the state security prosecution, says that the four defendants are facing charges of "conspiracy with the intent to carry out terrorist acts", and "promoting the ideas of a terrorist group".

The four men - who are all friends and said to be supporters of IS - agreed among themselves on the necessity of "carrying out operations that cause terror", according to the indictment revealed by Al-Rai.

The four also planned to target an alleged sorcerer in the city of Irbid and members of the Jewish community in Jordan, the charges added.

Al-Rai reported that the men planned to clash with Jordanian border guards in order to get close enough to strike the Israeli soldiers.

Tightly controlled Jordan, which rarely sees any security incidents, has been at peace with Israel since 1994.

In comments made to CNN from Washington on Sunday, Jordan King Abdullah II said there has been an increase in incidents along Jordan’s borders recently and are now as frequent as during the peak of the kingdom's fight against IS.

The kingdom shares borders with Syria and Iraq, where IS once controlled large swathes of territory.