The State Department said Monday that the two Americans killed in Jordan were contract workers who were helping to fulfill a federal program aimed at training Palestinian security forces.
State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed that two U.S. trainers were killed, and that two others were wounded in a shooting event that also resulted in the death of others.
“The training is done at the International Police Training Center in Jordan. It’s a Jordanian-owned facility,” he said when asked what training program the U.S. citizens were involved with.
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“The training is predominantly arranged for Palestinian security forces to teach them basic security skills,” he added.
When asked if the program is strictly aimed at training Palestinians, Kirby said, “That’s the purpose of this program.” He said the program has been in place since 2008, and is coordinated and funded by the State Department.
He also said the two who were killed were monitors, and were contracted through the State Department through the company Dyncorp.
The shooting took place just as violence between Israel and the Palestinian Authority has been escalating over the last few weeks. But when asked what might have prompted the event, Kirby said it’s unclear and that a Jordan-led investigation is just beginning.
“I would not even begin to speculate on motive here, in terms of what happened,” he said.
