Mid 1969

Jordan was rapidly disintegrating. Fighting had broken out in every quarter after the brutal assassination of Caliph Hussein. While the Jordanians originally accused the Israelis of perpetrating the attack, this has been quickly debunked, and Jordan had gone off like a bomb. The PFLP now holds Amman, the capital of Jordan, though their hold is tenuous and mostly consists of their Fedayeen militants.

Amman or Bust!

Amman was about to become one of the most hotly contested cities on the planet.

Rushing back to their capital was the Jordanian army, hoping to free Fat’hi Abu Taleb and PM Tal, who were in chains in an Amman prison. Jordanian tanks and infantry, slowed by the few mediocre roads to the south of the capital, made good progress initially towards the north.

The Egyptian and Syrian forces descended on the capital before the Jordanians could reach it. Syrian and Egyptian tanks, vehicles and troops arrived on the night of July 4th, reinforcing the Fedayeen positions around the capital. Almost immediately, a couple dozen troops and a handful of vehicles were destroyed in an israeli night attack on the capital. The out-of-position Syrian SAMs were unable to defend the capital that night, and roving Israeli fighters took a small toll on the flood of troops into the capital. However, a full attack would wait until daylight.

When July 5th dawned, a massive Israeli air attack was undertaken over Amman, intending to destroy Syrian supply lines and disable their SAMs. Israel’s attack was generally successful, as the Syrian air force was mostly preoccupied with disabling any remaining Jordanian air assets. The Egyptian air force had yet to arrive in force by then, still relocating to their forward operating base in Mafraq. A few Syrian MIGs did bounce some Israeli SEAD missions, drawing minor casualties, but the overwhelming Israeli attack meant that few Syrian planes entered the area, and quite a few Syrian MIGs were destroyed either on the ground or in the air. Needless to say, by this time the Jordanian air force was no longer a factor.

Their tanks, however, were a different matter. Despite harassing attacks from both Israel and some Syrian jets, the Jordanian Army reached the outskirts of Amman on the night of July 5th. The next day began with a predawn attack by the Jordanian Army, taking the Fedayeen on the outskirts by surprise. The Syrians and Egyptians were more prepared to repel the assault, but, despite this, the battle soon ground down into a war of attritional street fighting. The Jordanians were able to capture the neighborhoods of Marj Al Haman and Al Qweismeh before a brief Syrian counterattack repelled them. Around the same time, Israeli fighter-bombers descended on the capital. Their main target was the Syrian armor and SAMs, and their attacks provided unwitting air support to the attacking Jordanians.

A major part of the battle ensued as Jordanian armor began a thrust towards the prison where Abu Taleb and PM Tal, currently in the clutches of Egyptian interrogators, was being held. Jordanian M-48s led the charge, and a street battle ensued between them and Syrian T-55s. Tanks maneuvered around ruined houses and hid in the rubble, with the battle lasting an entire day. Infantry attacks were repelled by dug-in machine gunners and snipers, and it wasn’t until Israeli planes reappearad over head that the situation began to shift. With priority being given to destroy the Soviet-made tanks, the Jordanians could only watch as Israeli bombs fell in and around the prison. One Israeli 500 pound bomb fell within the prison yard, demolishing the wall and collapsing part of the building. As night fell and fires burned throughout Amman, a company of Jordanian troops flooded into the ruined prison.

Slaughtering the remaining Egyptian and Syrian guards, the Jordanians recovered Abu Taleb and PM Tal, bloodied but mostly unhurt, and held them, waiting for an armored vehicle to return them to the army headquarters. Hearing wind of the Jordanian attack, a small number of Syrian BTRs approached the prison. Jordanian reinforcements flooded in from the south as well, and soon a new night battle had erupted. RPGs flew up and down the streets around the prison, with BTRs firing their cannons into houses at point blank range.

It was a very long night for Abu Taleb and PM Tal, but as dawn rose and Israeli jets again approached, the Jordanians used the distraction to shepherd the two into a Ferret scout car. They rapidly escaped back to Jordanian lines, reinforcing the government’s opposition.

Meanwhile, the Syrians and Egyptians now had significant resources to oppose the Israeli air incursions. Staying in the protective curtain of their SAMs, the Syrians and Egyptians drew blood from the Israeli fighter-bombers, but were soon met by SEAD and fighter patrols. Trying desperately to defend the heavy SAM sites they had brought up with them, quite a few MIGs were destroyed by Israeli attacks, drawing only a portion of their losses back themselves. However, the deployment of Soviet-made MANPADs and some surprisingly new SAM systems caught the Israelis by surprise, forcing them to call off their attacks that day early due to mounting losses.

The Israeli Advance

Israel’s ground forces, meanwhile, moved to a commanding position in the valleys and passes to the west and south of Amman. In this they succeeded completely, as the other forces in the area were too preoccupied with seizing key cities to bother with the passes. This resulted in the Israeli troops standing their ground for a few days against scattered, disorganized Fedayeen attacks. It wasn’t until the Israeli air attacks stalled due to murderous SAM fire that orders were given to advance to the outskirts of Amman.

The fight truly became three-way now, with Israeli forces battling both the Socialist and Ba’athist Egyptian-Syrian-PFLP alliance and the Jordanian government forces. Their fire was focused on the former, however, and with the Jordanian government now regaining control of Abu Taleb and PM Tal, their legitimacy was increasing while the PFLP were looking like usurpers more every day. Whether they had been put up to the task of eliminating the Caliph was unimportant now as Amman became a city in flames.

Israel vacillated between its objectives for a critical few days as the PFLP solidified its hold of northern Amman and the key cities in the north of the country. Through this time, Iraq remained uncommitted, accepting a few scattered groups of refugees that made their way east. The Jordanian government was too busy with the war in Amman to think about attacking in the East.

A ceasefire was finally in the works by July 14th, with larger external forces pressuring for an end to the bloody street battles. Abu Taleb successfully appealed for support behind the governmental forces, and the Western governments, forced to choose between the Ba’athists and what remained of the “legitimate” government, chose the latter. Israel withdrew to its strong defensive fortifications, still unsure of which group to support.

Some minor engagements occurred elsewhere, including along the northern Syrian-Jordanian border. A small Egyptian naval force attempted to land at Aqaba in the south of Jordan, but were driven off by Israeli missile boats. A small naval battle ensued for the new few days between Egyptian and Israeli boats, with aircraft on standby, but the minor naval forces of both sides never engaged in a larger conflict.

In addition, the US Sixth Fleet was stood off by a large Soviet naval detachment. This conflict almost resulted in a shooting war between the two superpowers, but the erratic nature of the war and the rapidly changing situation meant that neither side was committed enough to start what would surely become a global conflict. Both naval forces remain strongly committed to the area.

The End?

With Amman in ruins, a ceasefire was finally drawn up in late July. However, the hold of it was quite tenuous, and neither the PFLP or Jordanian government agreed to giving up a significant number of their arms. The Egyptians, bloodied in the fight, decided to withdraw to their air base in Mafraq to defend from any Israeli attacks. Israel held its passes and strong positions overall, with their air force still dominant in the region, despite the intense SAM fire by the Socialist-Ba’athist forces. Syria remained committed to supporting its Fedayeen. It was clear that the next few years of Jordanian politics would be marked by continued bloodshed. The Jordanian government established itself in Kerak and enjoyed the tenuous support tof the Western nations, though they refused to send any more arms or peacekeeping forces into the fray.

The PFLP and Jordanian government suffered some of the worst casualties in percentage terms. The Syrians and Egyptians both received severely bloodied noses, with much valuable equipment destroyed, though overall they remain forces to be reckoned with. However, both their air forces were significantly damaged in the fighting, leaving them unable to prosecute an offensive campaign for a few years until new equipment and pilots can be brought up. The Israelis suffered light ground casualties and significant, though not ruinous, casualties in the air.