Dispute over alleged agreements: Jordan's retaliation puts Syria's government in trouble

Jordanian security forces arrested 3 suspects in a village on Monday after their attack on mourners at a church in Karak on Friday shocked the country. In images and videos of the arrest, military and special operations police officers in full black gear can be seen racing through the parched landscape in the darkness in a convoy of armored vehicles. Shots are fired from a flat roof, echoing in the deserted streets of the village of al-Judayyda in central Jordan.

Three men then lie next to the security forces, some with bloody faces and in handcuffs. They are all said to come from the same local family, 2 are siblings. At a press conference, police chief Obeidallah al-Maaytah announced that the three suspects had barricaded themselves in an abandoned building after the crime. When the security forces stormed the hideout, they barricaded themselves and opened fire. The suspects sustained injuries but are alive. The major general emphasized that the trio acted alone, with religious extremist motives.

A few hours later, the Jordanian Air Force carried out several airstrikes on buildings near Dara'a in southern Syria. On X the military wrote that they had carried out “Operation Jordanian Deterrence – Humud”. Humud is the name of the village where the attack took place. The operation was directed against hideouts of terrorist organizations in Syria.

The air strikes are said to have targeted IS cells. The Jordanian government said over 20 IS members were killed. The three suspects are said to have connections to IS groups there. The armed forces said the airstrikes were in retaliation for the terrorist attack.

Syrian media, however, report that at least 7 civilians died under the missiles from the Jordanian fighter jets, including a woman, an elderly man and 3 children. The Syrian government said it was not informed in advance of the airstrikes and expressed solidarity with the affected families. They said they had contacted the Jordanian authorities to clarify the incident. The Jordanian armed forces, however, emphasized that they carried out the attack “in coordination with the Syrian government”.

Communications Minister Mohammed al-Momani later regretted the civilian casualties. On Tuesday, Amman reiterated that the Jordanian government maintains a "brotherly relationship" with the government in Damascus, respects the Syrian state and strives to overcome common challenges, especially in the fight against the IS terrorist organization.

After the air strikes, Syria closed its border crossing with Jordan, as media and eyewitnesses reported. According to the authorities, they want to protect travelers and border staff “due to the current circumstances”.

It is difficult to say whether the attack was actually coordinated and how many people died. On the Syrian side there has so far been no evidence that terrorists have been killed. What is certain is that the government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is currently under pressure on several fronts because of the situation in southern Syria. In the West, raids and attacks by Israel are stirring up the population. Jordan, on the other hand, has repeatedly carried out air strikes in the south, although so far they have targeted drug smugglers.

In the Druze regions, groups of fighters led by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri have joined forces. Syria accuses the Israeli government of supporting the Druze militias with weapons and money to cause chaos and destabilize the country.