Attack may signal opening of new Zarqawi front

Jordanian intelligence experts say the attack using Katyusha rockets indicates Zarqawi may favour expanding military attacks to pro-US ally Jordan to hurt Washington’s war effort in Iraq.

‘‘Zarqawi appreciates more than ever that by hitting the US Military in Jordan he would score not just a symbolic victory but maybe disrupt a hitherto safe supply route for the US Army into bases in the western desert (of Iraq),’’ said one intelligence expert and official who requested anonymity.

Jordan denies providing logistical backing to Washington’s military campaign though the US Military has said in briefings that it has used the country as a main supply route.

‘‘This is the first time they actually penetrated in a well coordinated military operation. Zarqawi will have learned from this how to conduct a military operation in Jordan even if it missed its target…,’’ one security official said. The incident has stoked fears in a tightly policed country that has not seen the kind of attacks on tourist resorts and Westerners that have taken place elsewhere.

‘‘The possibilities now exist of an increase in terror attacks and wider targets. It’s unavoidable we have now become targetted like Saudi Arabia and Egypt,’’ said Mahmoud Kharabsheh, a prominent deputy and a former senior intelligence official.

The last major attempt by Zarqawi’s group last year was a plot to wage a chemical attack using suicide bombers against government and US targets in the kingdom.

Audio tapes purportedly from Zarqawi have vowed to punish Jordan’s rulers for ‘‘aiding the treacherous enemy America’’.

‘‘It’s premature to tell now but if the attackers trained in Iraq then this could be a very dangerous turn. We have so far only seen Jordanian militants heading to Iraq and blowing themselves up in suicide bombings,’’ one former minister with ties to the intelligence community said. —Reuters