Middle East News

Jordanian Army suffers first fatality in Afghanistan

Dec 30, 2009, 23:42 GMT

Amman - The Jordanian Army announced Wednesday that one of its ranking officers was killed earlier in the day in Afghanistan.

'Captain Ali bin Zeid was martyred this evening as he performed his humanitarian duty along with other Jordanian troops operating in Afghanistan,' the official Petra news agency quoted an army spokesman as saying.

The statement gave no details as to the circumstances of bin Zeid's death, but said that he held the title of 'Sherif,' an indication that he was close to the ruling family. He is the first Jordanian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan.

Jordan is the only Arab country that has publicly contributed forces to the US-led military alliance in Afghanistan, but authorities have so far refrained from disclosing the number of troops.

NATO's website listed 90 Jordanian soldiers alongside other contributions to the multinational force.