Jordan’s Syria Strikes Spark Civilian Casualty Dispute

Jordan says it carried out air strikes against what its military described as “terrorist organisations” in Syria in response to the killing of nine people at a Greek Orthodox church funeral in the Jordanian city of Karak. The shooting, which took place on Friday, also injured 34 people. Jordan said its fighter jets killed and wounded several alleged terrorists, but did not provide further details. Syrian health officials, however, said five people—including women, children and an elderly man—were killed when the strike hit a village in Daraa province in southern Syria. The two governments offered conflicting accounts of whether the operation had been coordinated. Jordan said it had worked with the Syrian government, while Syria said it had not been notified before the strike. In response, Syrian authorities closed the Nassib crossing, the only passenger and commercial border crossing between the two countries, suspending traffic in both directions. Syria said the closure was intended to protect travellers and crossing staff. It also said it had opened direct communication channels with Jordanian officials and begun a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances of the strike. Separately, Jordanian security forces arrested two brothers and their brother-in-law in connection with the church attack, according to senior security officials. Jordan’s Public Security Directorate said the unnamed suspects, whom it called “terrorists”, were found hiding in an abandoned house in Karak before dawn. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said the attackers were Jordanian and had been hiding in a building in a village near the attack site.

Jordan has acknowledged that civilians were killed in airstrikes its air force carried out in southern Syria on Monday night against what it described as Islamic State (IS) militants. Jordan said the strikes were retaliation for an attack the previous week on a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Jordan, where nine people were killed. Its government said the operation killed more than 20 IS fighters and destroyed a major weapons depot. Jordanian Communications Minister Mohammed al-Momani said the country regretted the civilian deaths, while maintaining that the strikes were based on field intelligence and that precautions had been taken to avoid harming civilians. Syrian authorities gave a different account of the casualties, saying seven people were killed in strikes in Daraa and Sweida provinces, including three children, a woman and two elderly men. Masoud al-Salim, a resident of the border village of Al-Tuff, told the Associated Press that his wife, son and three grandchildren died when a strike hit his home. He described finding the house destroyed and searching the rubble for his family. The strikes prompted Syria’s Foreign Ministry to condemn what it called an unacceptable violation of Syrian airspace. Jordan’s military said the operation was coordinated with Damascus, but the Syrian government said it had received no prior coordination and announced an investigation. The report notes that Jordan and Syria had maintained strong bilateral ties since the fall of the Assad dynasty in December 2024 and the formation of an interim government led by Ahmad al-Sharaa. Despite the dispute over the airstrikes, Syria said the two countries’ leaders would continue strengthening security coordination to prevent destabilization and further loss of life. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the funeral. Jordanian security forces arrested three men after a shootout on Monday.

Jordan said its air force killed around 20 Islamic State militants in airstrikes in southern Syria on Monday evening, while acknowledging that civilians were also among the casualties. The Jordanian armed forces said the strikes targeted hideouts belonging to terrorist organisations and were carried out in retaliation for a recent attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Karak that reportedly killed nine people. Government spokesperson Mohammad Al-Momani said the operation followed intelligence indicating imminent terrorist threats and destroyed a major weapons depot. He said Jordan had avoided civilian sites, described civilian deaths as unintended, and emphasized the country’s respect for Syria and its people. Syria’s foreign ministry condemned the operation as an unacceptable violation of its airspace, saying the strikes took place without prior coordination. Syria’s civil defence agency reported seven people killed. In Daraa Governorate, it said an airstrike killed five members of one family: three children, a woman and a man. The agency also reported the deaths of an 80-year-old person in Daraa and a 60-year-old person in Suwayda Governorate. The article includes testimony from Nassouh al-Salim, a resident of the village of Al-Taf, who said a missile hit while his family was asleep. He described losing his mother, older brother and three of his brother’s children. The accounts present competing descriptions of the operation: Jordan characterized it as a response to a terrorist threat and said civilian sites were avoided, while Syrian authorities stressed the breach of national airspace and reported civilian deaths. The article does not establish the full circumstances of the casualties or independently reconcile the two governments’ accounts.