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Jordan Army Thwarts Drugs Smuggling Operation from Syria

A drone monitors the Jordanian-Syrian border. (AFP)
A drone monitors the Jordanian-Syrian border. (AFP)
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Jordan Army Thwarts Drugs Smuggling Operation from Syria

A drone monitors the Jordanian-Syrian border. (AFP)
A drone monitors the Jordanian-Syrian border. (AFP)

The Jordanian army announced on Saturday that its forces busted an operation to smuggle drugs across the border from Syria.

They seized over 600,000 Captagon pills and 578 palm-sized sheets of hashish.

A source at the command headquarters said that troops applied the rules of engagement, which led to the injury of one of the smugglers and the others retreated inside Syrian territory, reported the state news agency Petra.

A vehicle loaded with large quantities of drugs, including the palm-sized sheets of hashish, 6447,000 Captagon pills, 1,876 Lyrica narcotic capsules, as well as devices and equipment set for smuggling were seized, the source said, adding that the contraband was referred to the competent authorities.

The source reiterated that Jordanian armed forces will deal with all force to prevent any infiltration or smuggling attempt, protect the border and stand firmly against those who try to tamper with Jordan's national security.

In February, Jordan declared that drug trafficking from Syria into the kingdom was becoming "organized" with smugglers stepping up operations and using sophisticated equipment including drones.

Since the beginning of this year, Jordan's army has killed 30 smugglers and foiled attempts to smuggle into the kingdom from Syria 16 million Captagon pills -- more than they seized in the whole of 2021 -- the military said.

On January 27, the army said it killed 27 traffickers in a clash as they tried to enter the kingdom from Syria.

Some 160 groups of traffickers are operating in southern Syrian, near the border with Jordan, according to a Jordanian official.

Large amounts of illegal drugs have been seized since the beginning of the year.

This included 17,348 packs of hashish and more than 16 million Captagon pills -- compared to 15.5 million pills for all of 2021 and 1.4 million pills in 2020.

Captagon is an amphetamine-type stimulant manufactured mostly in Lebanon, although probably also in Iraq and Syria, and is popular across the region.

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Kurdistan Salary Crisis Clouds Eid Celebrations in Baghdad

Leader of the Hikma Movement Ammar al-Hakim delivers his Eid speech to supporters in Baghdad (Hikma Media)
Leader of the Hikma Movement Ammar al-Hakim delivers his Eid speech to supporters in Baghdad (Hikma Media)
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Kurdistan Salary Crisis Clouds Eid Celebrations in Baghdad

Leader of the Hikma Movement Ammar al-Hakim delivers his Eid speech to supporters in Baghdad (Hikma Media)
Leader of the Hikma Movement Ammar al-Hakim delivers his Eid speech to supporters in Baghdad (Hikma Media)

The festivity of Eid al-Adha in Baghdad was overshadowed by growing political tensions, particularly over the unresolved salary crisis in the Kurdistan Region.

While Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani opted for a neutral gesture - issuing a general holiday greeting and performing Eid prayers without comment - other political leaders used the occasion to speak pointedly about the nation’s deepening challenges.

Al-Sudani attended Eid prayers at Al-Rasoul Mosque in the capital, choosing to remain silent on political matters. However, influential Shiite cleric and head of the Hikma Movement, Ammar al-Hakim, and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq leader Qais al-Khazali both delivered speeches that touched on the country’s fraught political and economic landscape.

Al-Hakim warned against the use of political money in Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for November 11, 2025.

Calling the vote “historic,” he emphasized the need for electoral integrity and urged political blocs to adopt a national code of conduct barring the use of illicit funds. “There is talk of a market where candidates and voters are being bought. This is corruption and betrayal of the people,” he said.

He also addressed Iraq’s perennial electricity crisis, calling for a “strategic state of emergency” to resolve the issue once and for all. “Despite changing governments and large budgets, the same problems repeat themselves,” he noted.

Al-Hakim stressed the need for governments to define clear priorities, including agriculture, water, and clean energy, and said Iraqis “deserve a dignified life that begins with stable electricity and ends with technological advancement.”

Khazali, meanwhile, focused his remarks on the Kurdistan Region salary crisis, criticizing accusations from Kurdish media that he was responsible for the federal government’s suspension of public sector salaries in the region. “It’s simply not true,” he said. “Unfortunately, salaries remain unpaid to this day.”

He stressed that despite Iraq’s wealth, the country continues to suffer from poverty and unemployment, and argued that the roots of these issues lie in the legacy of the former Ba’ath regime.

Khazali also pointed out that Kurdistan experiences higher poverty rates than the rest of Iraq, and that many Iraqi refugees abroad are from the region.

Turning to the electricity crisis, he warned this summer could be the most difficult in years, as outages are expected to worsen. “All past governments focused on increasing output but ignored the need to instill a culture of energy conservation,” he said, warning that some groups may seek to exploit the crisis to sow internal unrest.