Jordan declared the desert border regions with Syria and Iraq "military zones" barred to civilians after a suicide bomber killed six Jordanian soldiers near the Syrian frontier on Tuesday (June 21st), AFP reported.
King Abdullah II vowed to hit back with an "iron fist" after meeting top civilian and military officials to discuss the attack in an area where thousands of Syrian refugees are stranded.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Jordan is part of the coalition fighting the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) in Syria and Iraq, and has been targeted by the group before.
The army said the suicide bomber set off from a makeshift Syrian refugee camp in no man's land near the Rukban border crossing in Jordan's north.
The driver entered Jordanian territory through an opening used for humanitarian aid deliveries and blew himself up as he reached a military post.
"Such criminal acts will only increase our determination to confront terrorism and terror gangs that target army personnel who protect the security of the country and its borders," King Abdullah said.
Soon after, the army issued a statement declaring Jordan's desert regions that stretch north-east to Syria and east to Iraq "closed military zones".
Unauthorised vehicles in the area "will be considered enemy targets", it warned.
