Jordan militants kill police and tourist in raid

At least five people - including a Canadian female tourist - have beem gunned down by suspected militants who opened fire on police in southern Jordan on Sunday, a security source said.

"Four of the dead are policemen and one is a (female) Canadian tourist," said the source who declined to be named.

He added that nine others were wounded in the attack in Karak roughly 120 kilometres (around 70 miles) south of Amman.

The gunmen reportedly fled the scene and hid within the grounds of the ancient Karak Castle, where several tourists remain trapped as the stand-off continues.

State news agency Petra said security forces are "handling the situation".

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, however, Jordan is involved in the US-led global coalition battling the Islamic State group across the region.

In 2005, Jordan witnessed the massacre of 60 people in coordinated suicide bomb attacks on hotels in the capital Amman by al-Qaeda in Iraq militants.

Since then, the country had remained largely peaceful but smaller-scale attacks have taken place, while the threat of militancy runs large.