Bombings Strike Three Hotels in Amman

The Attacks

On the evening of November 9, 2005, three explosions struck within minutes of each other at the Grand Hyatt, the Radisson SAS and the Days Inn hotels in Amman, the capital of Jordan. The Radisson was the site of a wedding reception, and many of the dead were guests at it. The attacks were carried out by suicide bombers who wore explosive belts. The U.S. State Department reported 63 deaths, and other sources gave slightly lower counts. More than a hundred people were wounded.

The Responsibility

The next day a statement attributed to al-Qaeda in Iraq, the group led by the Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility. Most of the dead were Jordanians and other Arabs. Among them was the Syrian-American film director Moustapha Akkad, who was at the Grand Hyatt and died of his injuries. The State Department's annual terrorism report called it the deadliest terrorist attack in Jordan's history. Three of the bombers were Iraqis, according to Jordanian authorities.

The Fourth Bomber

A fourth attacker, Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman, was at the Radisson with her husband, who carried out the bombing there. Her explosive belt did not detonate and she left the hotel. She was arrested days later, appeared on Jordanian television where she described her role, and was sentenced to death in 2006. Jordan executed her on February 4, 2015, after the killing of a captured Jordanian pilot, Muath al-Kasasbeh, by the Islamic State.

Reaction in Jordan

King Abdullah II condemned the attacks, and thousands of Jordanians took part in demonstrations in Amman against terrorism and against Zarqawi, whose family members in Jordan also publicly rejected him. Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary-General, visited the site and called for international cooperation against terrorism. Hotels and other public buildings in Jordan strengthened their security, and the government set up new counter-terrorism measures. Zarqawi was killed in an American air strike near Baquba, Iraq, on June 7, 2006.

The Victims

Most of those killed were Jordanians, including many who were attending the wedding at the Radisson. Also among the dead were members of a Chinese military delegation that was visiting Jordan, and Palestinian officials from the West Bank. Foreign visitors and residents from several other countries were among the wounded. The bodies were identified over several days, and funerals were held across Jordan. The government declared three days of mourning. Jordan, which borders Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the West Bank, had a population of roughly five and a half million people in 2005.