Jordan strikes southern Syria after church attack; Syria denies coordination

Right · 2Jordan said on Monday 26 October that its air force struck what it described as militant hideouts in southern Syria. 1 2 Mixed · 2The military said the strikes were retaliation for an attack on Friday 23 October on a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Hamoud, Karak governorate, which killed nine people. 3 4 Right · 2The Jordanian Armed Forces said those responsible were linked to the groups targeted. It called them "terrorist organizations" but did not name them. 2 1

Right · 1The operation was called "Jordanian Deterrence – Hamoud". The military said the strikes destroyed several structures and vehicles and killed or wounded members of the groups. It gave no casualty figures or precise locations. 2 Right · 1Shortly before the statement, Syrian social media users and groups, including a Facebook page called "Daraa 24", reported three airstrikes they believed were carried out by Jordanian warplanes in western Daraa province. These reports also described continuing heavy warplane activity over the province and two earlier explosions, one attributed to an airstrike near Nasib in eastern Daraa. These accounts are unverified. 2 Mixed · 2Jordan's armed forces said the operation was conducted in coordination with Damascus. 4 5

Centre · 2Damascus denied this: the Syrian government said the strikes were carried out without prior coordination or notification, opened an investigation, and stressed the need for joint field and security coordination in border areas. Its Foreign Ministry conveyed its objections to Jordan and expressed regret over the casualties, saying contacts with Jordan were ongoing. 6 7 Centre · 3Syrian officials reported civilian deaths, with the toll rising as reports came in: five (a health official via state news agency SANA), six and seven (Daraa's Health Directorate), then eight (Daraa hospitals, per AFP). Syria's civil defence agency said seven people were killed across Daraa and Sweida provinces, including five members of one family (a woman and three children among them) hit in a tent in rural Daraa, and two elderly men aged 60 and 80 in separate strikes. These figures come from Syrian authorities and the Jordanian military has not given its own. 3 6 8 Mixed · 2Outlets differ on the location: JNS described the targets as in southeastern Syria, while Reuters and the BBC placed the strikes in the south, in Daraa and Sweida provinces. 9 10

Mixed · 2After the strikes Syria's border authority closed the Nasib (Nassib) crossing, Jordan's only passenger and commercial crossing with Syria, suspending traffic in both directions and citing conditions on the ground in Daraa. 8 11 Centre · 2Earlier on Monday Jordanian security forces arrested three men after a shootout at an abandoned house in Karak governorate; all three were wounded and no officers were hurt. Police named them as brothers Hazza and Meshal Zaidan Mohammed and their brother-in-law Ahmad Sami Hussein, all Jordanian nationals. 3 6 Centre · 3Jordanian officials gave a more limited picture of the attackers than the military's statement on the strikes. Public security chief Maj Gen Obeidallah al-Maaytah said they were not linked to an organised group and "only represent themselves"; Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said there was no indication of external contacts or collaboration with foreign parties. No group has claimed the attack, and officials did not name any Islamist group. 6 3 4

Centre · 1Interior Minister al-Faraya also said the file was not closed and investigations were continuing, but that as of Monday there were no indications of links between the suspects and other cells. 10 Mixed · 2King Abdullah II ordered an "iron fist" response and said the attackers would not escape punishment; Jordan is a US partner and attacks on Christians there are rare. 12 4