Syria and Jordan reopen border after deadly strikes

Syria reopened its border crossing with Jordan on Wednesday, according to the state news agency SANA, after Jordanian airstrikes killed at least seven people in southern Syria. The crossing, called Nassib, is Jordan’s only border crossing with Syria, and it was due to reopen that morning with regular passenger and commercial traffic resuming, SANA said.

The border was briefly closed after Monday’s Jordanian air attacks. Jordan said the strikes targeted ISIL “hideouts” in southern Syria. The Jordanian military said the attacks were a response to a Greek Orthodox church shooting by gunmen in Jordan’s Karak on Friday. ISIL later took responsibility for the church attack.

Jordanian strikes in Syria killed at least seven people in Deraa and Suwayda, including five members of the same family, three of whom were children, Syria’s Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management said. The ministry said its teams responded to attacks at four sites.

The two countries’ foreign ministers agreed after a phone call to form a security committee. They said it would share intelligence and follow up on the impact of Jordan’s strikes, and would develop “field and intelligence coordination in dealing with terrorist threats” to protect civilians.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the Monday attacks were based on field intelligence and aimed at “neutralising confirmed threats and imminent terrorist operations targeting Jordan’s security”. He said he expressed “deep regret” over civilian deaths in a call with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and stressed Jordan’s respect for Syria’s sovereignty and stability.

Jordan had claimed the strikes were coordinated with the Syrian government, which Damascus denied. Separately, the church shooting in Jordan killed at least nine people and wounded 34 others. Jordanian security forces arrested two brothers and their brother-in-law on suspicion of carrying out the attack.

Source: Al Jazeera.