Conflicting information on agreements: dead in Jordanian retaliatory attacks on Syria

dpa/afp After a terrorist attack on a church in Jordan, the Jordanian air force attacked targets in Syria. The air strikes on hideouts of suspected terrorist organizations in the south of the neighboring country were in retaliation for the deadly attack on a church in the Jordanian governorate of Karak last Friday, the Jordanian armed forces said. It was said that the suspected perpetrators had connections to the groups attacked.

According to Jordanian information, the attacks on Monday evening were carried out in coordination with the Syrian government. The Syrian government rejected this. The attacks in the southern province of Daraa were not coordinated in advance with the Syrian side, the state news agency Sana reported, citing the government. There was “no prior coordination with the Syrian side.” But they are in contact with Jordan “to discuss the situation,” it said.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least eight people were killed in the attacks. The UK-based organization said they included an elderly man and three children. Four people were injured. The number of victims could rise even further. The attacks hit several places in Daraa and Suwayda provinces.

The Syrian Civil Protection Authority reported a total of seven deaths in different locations - six of them in Daraa province, including three children. In addition, a man was killed in an attack on a residential building in the neighboring southern province of Suwaida. His remains are currently being recovered from the rubble. The information on those killed and the targets hit could not initially be independently verified.

Syria responded to the airstrikes by closing its main border crossing with the neighboring country. The Syrian Border and Customs Authority announced on Tuesday the closure of the Nassib border crossing in the south of the country, known on the Jordanian side as Jaber. She also stated that all movement of people and goods would be suspended “in both directions”. She cited “current circumstances” as the reason.

Sana said Syrian authorities had opened an investigation into the attacks and had contacted Jordan to discuss the situation. Damascus emphasized the importance of joint coordination on security measures in the border areas.

In the attack on the Greek Orthodox St. George Church in Hammud in the southern Jordanian province of Karak, gunmen killed nine people on Friday during a funeral service. Jordanian authorities said the suspected perpetrators had links to militant groups in southern Syria. King Abdullah II had threatened the perpetrators of retaliation. On Monday morning, three suspected attackers were arrested in the Jordanian province of Karak.