By Laith Joneidi

AMMAN

A Jordanian former intelligence service official was killed on Tuesday by unidentified assailants in southwest of capital Amman, according to Jordan’s official news agency.

"The search for the killer of retired general Habis al-Hanini is still underway," the news agency reported citing a security source.

Al-Hanini was shot in the chest in front of his home in Madaba province’s Al-Faisaliah sub-district located 33 kilometers (some 21 miles) southwest of Amman.

The former official was leading a counter-terrorism unit in the Jordanian intelligence service.

The source denied local media reports stating that the assailant’s name is Nidal Salameh, an individual who was said to adopt extremist ideology.