Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordan, threatened by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, plans to recruit thousands of officers to secure the borders with Iraq and Syria.
Officials said the government has decided to recruit at least 3,000 personnel for the paramilitary Gendarmerie.

They said the recruits would be trained and equipped to monitor and block infiltration by Al Qaida-aligned insurgents.

“We are following with concern the events in the east,” Jordanian Interior Minister Hussein Majali said.

On June 25, Majali briefed the Cabinet on the ISIL threat along Jordan’s borders. He said both the military and security forces intensified monitoring over the kingdom’s 181 kilometer border with Iraq.

The Cabinet approved a plan to recruit 3,000 people for the Gendarmerie Department by 2015.

Officials said the money for the security campaign would come from an emergency budget.

“This would allow the Gendarmerie to fulfill its mission during the emergency regional security and political situation,” the Cabinet said.

Diplomat said the security services were working with Bedouin tribes in eastern Jordan to enhance border security. They said the kingdom was also equipping some of the tribes to prevent infiltration from Iraq and Syria.

Over the last two years, Jordan has increased army and Gendarmerie deployment along its 380-kilometer border with Syria. In April, Jordanian Air Force F-16 multi-role fighters stopped the infiltration by several armed vehicles from Syria.

“All precautions have been taken to maintain security along the borders,” Majali said.

*World Tribune