Syria Closes Nassib Border Crossing With Jordan After Jordanian Airstrikes in Southern Syria

Syria closed the Nassib border crossing with Jordan on Tuesday, suspending passenger and commercial traffic in both directions, Syria’s General Authority for Border Crossings and Customs said. The authority cited conditions on the ground in Daraa province. Nassib is Jordan’s only passenger and commercial border crossing with Syria.

The closure came a day after Jordan’s air force struck sites in southern Syria that Jordan described as militant hideouts. Jordan said the suspects behind the church attack that killed nine people in Karak were linked to groups operating there.

Two different accounts of the strikes

Jordan’s armed forces said the operation was carried out in coordination with Damascus. Syria gave a different account: its foreign ministry said Damascus had told Jordan of its complete reservation over the strikes, which it said took place without prior coordination, and the government said it had opened an investigation. Syria also stressed the need for field and security coordination in border areas.

Early casualty reports differed on the wounded. The Syrian Civil Defence said in a preliminary report that seven people, including three children and a woman, were killed and three others were wounded, and that emergency teams responded to four sites in the countryside of Daraa and Sweida provinces. Health authorities in Daraa, as reported by AnewZ, put the injured at four. Jordan did not give a casualty figure; its military said the strikes destroyed vehicles and facilities and caused casualties among those it blamed, without naming the groups or giving exact locations.

Arrests after the church attack

The church attack took place on Friday during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud, about 120 km southwest of Amman in Karak governorate. Gunmen opened fire for several minutes, killing nine people and wounding at least 34, according to Reuters. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

On Monday, Jordanian security forces arrested two brothers and their brother-in-law after a shootout, senior government security officials said. The men were hiding in an abandoned house in al-Judayyda, in Karak governorate, refused to surrender and fired on security forces, who returned fire and wounded all three, the Public Security Directorate said. No security personnel were injured, and forces found firearms and ammunition in the suspects’ possession.

Jordan’s Director of Public Security, Maj. Gen. Obeidallah al-Maaytah, said of the suspects: “God willing, they only represent themselves.” Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said the file had not been closed and investigations were still ongoing, with no indications as of Monday of links between the suspects and other cells. King Abdullah had ordered security forces to respond with an “iron fist” after the attack, according to Reuters.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry said it was holding contacts with Jordanian officials to clarify the circumstances of the strikes.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters (via SRN News) and AnewZ.