Jordan: Smugglers Retreat into Syria following Air Strikes

Weapons and drugs seized by the Jordanian Guard Forces (Photo: Jordanian Armed Forces - Arab Army)

Informed Jordanian sources said that military operations on the northern border eased over the past hours, as smuggling militias retreated into Syria.

While official sources did neither confirm nor deny raids carried out by the Jordanian Air Force inside Syrian territory to strike drug production facilities, major smugglers, and militias still active along the border, media leaks spoke of confirmed air strikes that hit targets in southern Syria.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the sources confirmed that the continued attempts to infiltrate across the border prompted the Jordanian Armed Forces to increase military operations, as smugglers were active during the night to benefit from the climate conditions and the dense fog.

The sources stressed that information was made available about the connection of smuggling gangs coming from inside Syria with local groups, within the framework of drug trade. They also expected the coming hours to witness qualitative operations and raids on a number of locations suspected of sheltering local smugglers in possession of drugs and weapons.

Asharq Al-Awsat learned from security sources that drug smuggling operations - carried out by militias affiliated with Iranian factions and the Lebanese Hezbollah, and others by pro-Syrian regime factions - were intended to be “simultaneous” to confuse border guards.

But after follow-up and monitoring, the army was able to confront the terrorist plot.

Amman has expressed frustration, on more than one occasion, about Syria’s failure to fulfill its military and security obligations on the border, noting that the area has become unilaterally protected.

At dawn on Monday, the Border Guards, in coordination with the Anti-Narcotics Administration and the military security services, clashed with armed groups that attempted to illegally cross the border from Syrian territory into Jordan.

The confrontation lasted 14 hours, and resulted in the death and injury of a number of smugglers, the arrest of nine persons, and the seizure of large quantities of drugs, weapons and rockets.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces, Yousef Al-Huneiti, affirmed “the use of all the capabilities and resources to prevent infiltration and smuggling operations and confront them with force.”

His remarks came during a visit on Monday to the Eastern Military Region, which had seen a qualitative operation that led to the seizure of large quantities of narcotic drugs and weapons, and the arrest of a group of smugglers coming from Syrian territory into Jordan.