US Special Forces soldiers killed in Jordan were working for CIA

The three Army Special Forces soldiers killed at a Jordanian military base on November 4 were working for a CIA programme to train “moderate” Syrian fighters when they were shot at a checkpoint under still-unclear circumstances, US officials said.

The killings of the three soldiers is believed to be the deadliest single incident involving a CIA team since December 2009, when seven officers and contractors were killed in a suicide bombing in Khost, Afghanistan.

The Fort Campbell, Kentucky-based soldiers – all members of the 5th Special Forces Group – were killed by a Jordanian soldier at an entry control point to Prince Faisal Air Base near Jafr, in the southern desert about 240km south of the capital, Amman, according to the officials. The shooter also was wounded in what was described by US and Middle Eastern sources as an exchange of gunfire.

The soldiers, identified as Staff Sergeant Matthew Lewellen, Staff Sergeant Kevin McEnroe and Staff Sergeant James Moriarty, were among roughly 2,000 US troops working in Jordan while participating in the US-led campaign fighting Islamic State. Some of the troops have been assigned to mobile artillery units along the Jordanian border while others assist CIA-led training programmes for Syrian opposition fighters.

The CIA declined to comment on the shooting incident or on the soldiers’ possible role in agency programmes.