Seven civilians including three children killed in Jordanian airstrikes in Syria, Nasib border crossing closed

Jordan carried out airstrikes on Monday (26 October) at at least four locations in Syria's southern Daraa and Sweida provinces. According to Syrian authorities, at least seven civilians, including three children and a woman, were killed in the Jordanian warplane strikes.

Syria's Civil Defence Service said the strikes were carried out on Monday evening. Rescue workers recovered seven bodies from the sites.

Immediately after the strikes, Syrian border authorities closed the Nasib crossing. As a result, all passenger and commercial traffic between the two countries has been suspended. Nasib is the main border crossing between the two countries.

The strikes were described in reporting as 'revenge' for a recent deadly gun attack on a church in Jordan's Karak city. Earlier, on Friday (23 October), three gunmen opened fire indiscriminately at a funeral service at a Greek Orthodox church in Jordan's southern Karak governorate. At least nine people were killed and many injured in that attack.

After the church attack, Jordan's King Abdullah II announced harsh revenge and ordered a review of the country's security arrangements.

Jordan's armed forces claim that, in response to Friday's attack, they carried out airstrikes on Monday targeting secret hideouts of armed groups in south-eastern Syria. According to the military, the operation was conducted 'in coordination with the Syrian government' and many members of terrorist groups were killed or injured and several of their vehicles destroyed.

The Syrian government, however, directly rejected Jordan's claim. A government statement said Jordan carried out this military aggression without any prior permission or coordination, and an investigation into it has already begun.

A Syrian foreign ministry official described the operation as a 'treacherous attack'. He said the government would deal with the crisis arising from the situation while protecting the country's sovereignty.

Meanwhile, Jordanian security forces raided Al-Jadida village at dawn on Monday to catch the masterminds of the church attack. After a gunfight with authorities lasting about three hours, two brothers and their brother-in-law were arrested in seriously injured condition on suspicion of involvement in the incident.

The recent incident has created renewed sharp tension in relations between the two neighbouring countries.