King Abdullah of Jordan. Photo: Chatham House.

JNS.org – Jordan’s military chief revealed Tuesday that what was previously identified as an archaeological dig near Aljoun University in northern Jordan was in fact a joint Jordanian military and Israel Defense Forces intelligence operation to remove Israeli listening devices placed there in 1969.

In a press conference at Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour’s home, the country’s military chief, Gen. Mashal al-Zaben, said the listening devices had been connected to Jordanian communication lines. Explosives had been planted next to the devices in case they were discovered.

“After an explosion which took place February 2013 on the Al-Khalidiya highway, the Jordanian military began to investigate the cause of the blast,” the general said, according to Israel Hayom.

“Jordanian special forces searched throughout Jordan, and we found that there are five sites with listening devices in them. Because they are located in populated areas, we turned to the Israelis for information on them. … Over the past year and half we have neutralized and destroyed most of the sites ourselves using controlled explosions,” said al-Zaben.

According to the general, the last spy device was destroyed by Israelis under Jordanian military supervision out of concern that damage would be done to the nearby university compounds.