AMMAN – Jordan has arrested 11 members of the Islamic State group who it said confessed to planning “terrorist operations” in the kingdom, a security official said on Sunday.

Jihadis from the group have seized swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria, both of which border Jordan, declaring a caliphate and imposing a brutal interpretation of Islamic law.

The 11 alleged Islamic State members “admitted their links to the leadership of the Daesh organisation in Syria and that they were charged with carrying out terrorist operations in Jordan targeting a number of vital interests,” the official said, using the group’s Arabic acronym.

Security forces were continuing their investigation into the group, the source added in comments published by state news agency Petra.

Washington has drummed up support for an international coalition, which includes Jordan and Saudi Arabia, to tackle the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

The jihadists’ advances have raised fears that they could gain ground in neighboring Jordan, which is struggling to deal with an influx of 600,000 Syrian refugees and to contain local Islamist groups.