Key takeaways:
- Jordan said its strikes targeted armed groups in Syria in retaliation for Friday’s Karak church attack, which killed nine people and wounded 34.
- Syrian accounts differed on the strike toll: health officials reported five deaths to state media, while Civil Defence reported seven deaths, according to Al Jazeera.
- Syria closed the Nassib border crossing and denied Jordan’s claim that the strikes had been coordinated with its government.
Jordanian warplanes struck targets in southern Syria on Monday in retaliation for a deadly shooting at a church funeral, prompting Syria to close the countries’ only passenger and commercial border crossing. The two governments disputed whether Jordan had warned Syria before the strikes, while Syrian accounts gave different death tolls.
Jordan’s military said it targeted hideouts of armed groups it described as “terrorist organisations” and killed or wounded several members. In a statement reported by Al Jazeera, the military said the raids destroyed some of the groups’ vehicles. Jordan said the operation was carried out “in coordination with the Syrian government.”
Syria rejected that account. Its government said the operation took place “without prior coordination or notification” and that it had opened an investigation. Syrian authorities also said they had opened direct channels of communication with Jordanian officials.
The BBC reported that Syrian health officials told state media five people, including women, children and an elderly man, were killed in a strike on a village in Daraa province. Al Jazeera reported a higher toll: Syria’s Civil Defence service said its crews recovered seven bodies from strikes on at least four sites in rural Daraa and Suweyda provinces.
According to the Civil Defence account reported by Al Jazeera, five of those killed were members of one family — a man, a woman and three children — whose tent was hit in the village of Al-Tai. Three other family members, including a child, were wounded. The service said a strike in Al Shayyah killed an 80-year-old man, while another in Shahba killed a 60-year-old man. A strike on a residential building in Muzayrib caused no casualties.
After the raids, Syrian authorities suspended passenger and commercial traffic in both directions at the Nassib crossing. They said the closure was intended to protect travellers and workers. A Syrian Foreign Ministry official called the strikes a “treacherous attack” in comments to Al Jazeera and said the ministry would seek to manage the fallout while preserving Syrian sovereignty.
The strikes followed Friday’s shooting at a funeral in a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, where nine people were killed and 34 wounded. Al Jazeera reported that three gunmen opened fire on mourners. King Abdullah II said those responsible would face the “harshest penalties” and ordered a review of security procedures, the outlet reported.
Earlier Monday, Jordanian security forces arrested two brothers and their brother-in-law on suspicion of involvement in the attack. Jordan’s Public Security Directorate said the suspects were found hiding in an abandoned house near Karak before dawn. Al Jazeera reported that the arrests followed a roughly three-hour shootout in the village of Al-Jadeeda and that a Jordanian government source said the suspects were seriously injured. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said the attackers were Jordanians.
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