An assailant attacked and killed a security officer near the Sri Lankan Embassy in Jordan's capital Amman on Thursday, in what Jordanian authorities described as a terrorist act.

Jordan's Public Security Directorate said that a member of its forces was assaulted with a sharp object and died "in a cowardly terrorist attack." It said a preliminary investigation indicated the attacker had been "planning to commit the terrorist act against the officers of the General Security Directorate." Jordan's state-run Al-Mamlaka TV reported that the assailant, who has been arrested, attempted to seize the weapon from the security officer who was killed.

A second security officer intervened, and both the assailant and the second officer sustained injuries, Al-Mamlaka said.