In a statement faxed to news agencies in Amman and Beirut, the Islamic Resistance said the attack was in reaction to "Zionist enemy actions in Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon."

It warned that attacks would resume in a month against Israeli targets.

The group also demanded the release from prison of Ahmed Dakamsheh, a Jordanian soldier recently sentenced to life in prison for the March shooting deaths of seven Israeli schoolchildren who were on a field trip to Naharayim on the Israeli-Jordanian border.

Jordan's King Hussein phoned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was on an official visit to Austria, to express his shock at the attack.

The monarch promised that every effort would be made to apprehend those responsible for the attack.