Jordan executes 10 men convicted of terror charges

AMMAN, Jordan— Jordan on Saturday executed 10 men convicted of terrorism charges, including deadly attacks on tourists, Jordanian security forces and a local writer, the government spokesman said.

It was the largest round of executions since pro-Western Jordan launched its crackdown on Islamic extremists more than two years ago. The kingdom is a key member of the U.S.-led military coalition against the Islamic State group, the extremist group that controls parts of neighboring Iraq and Syria.

The men were hanged at dawn Saturday at Swaqa Prison in central Jordan, government spokesman Mohammed Momani said in a statement carried by the state news agency Petra.

Five others were executed for other crimes, including rape, he said.

Momani said the assailants executed Saturday for terror convictions had been involved in five different incidents, from a 2003 bombing attack on Jordan’s embassy in Iraq to the September 2016 shooting of a high-profile writer on the courthouse steps in the Jordanian capital of Amman.

Also listed was a 2006 shooting attack on a group of tourists at a Roman theater in the center of Amman. A British man was killed in the attack.