The Jordanian armed forces launched airstrikes in southern Syria yesterday, Monday, killing at least six people, with Amman announcing that “terrorist” targets were struck, some 24 hours after the deadly attack inside a Greek Orthodox church in the Hashemite Kingdom, which was attributed to Islamists.
Jordanian authorities had made it clear from the outset that they would respond with the utmost severity to this unprecedented attack against the country’s Christians, which took place on Friday, inside a church, where gunmen opened fire during a funeral, killing nine people before fleeing.
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After announcing yesterday morning the arrest of three men it identified as the perpetrators of the attack, Amman reported in the evening that airstrikes had been carried out in southern Syria.
These operations “destroyed terrorist positions” and killed or wounded “many members” of organizations linked, according to the Jordanian armed forces, to the perpetrators of the terrorist attack.
On the Syrian side, health authorities in the southwestern province of Deraa reported “six martyrs, including three children and a woman.”
The Syrian Civil Defense confirmed the death toll of six and added that a strike in the neighboring province of Suwayda killed a man.
“There was no prior coordination with the Syrian side regarding the military operation,” the de facto government of Syria stated in a press release carried by the SANA news agency.
Following the bombings, the Syrian Border and Customs Authority announced that it was closing the main border crossing with Jordan, known as Nasib on the Syrian side and Jaber on the Jordanian side, “due to current circumstances,” adding that all “passenger” and “cargo” traffic in both directions would be suspended.
The attack, which left 9 dead and 25 wounded at the Church of St. George, in the village of Hamoud in the Karak Governorate (south), was strongly condemned by Jordanian authorities, a country where Christians are estimated to make up about 3% of the population (11 million in total), which is predominantly Sunni.
The country will remain “an oasis of security and stability,” assured Public Security Director Abdallah Maita following the announcement of the arrest of the three suspects yesterday morning.
“Obscurantist ideology”
These men, members of the same family, who were labeled “terrorists” by the authorities, were arrested early in the morning “inside an abandoned house” in the province of Karak, where they had been hiding, according to authorities and state media.
“The two are brothers and the third is their brother-in-law. All are motivated by takfiri (i.e., Islamist extremist) ideology,” said Abdallah Maita during a press conference.
They were transported to a hospital and are being treated under guard, as they were wounded by gunfire from law enforcement during the operation to arrest them.
A “large quantity of ammunition” was also found and seized at the property, he added.
Prior to the bombings in Syria, Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya had said of the alleged perpetrators that “nothing indicates that they had contacts abroad or that they collaborated with any foreign party.”
The province of Karak, with a total population of 375,000, is home to a large Christian community.
Condemning the “terrorist” act, Jordan’s King Abdullah II emphasized via X on Friday that his country would impose the “harshest” penalties on the perpetrators.
“We had vowed that terrorists would not escape punishment, and no supporter of obscurantist ideologies that divide Jordanians will be tolerated,” the king said yesterday in a new message posted on X.
In Jordan, murder is punishable by death by hanging.
Government Communications Minister Mohammad al-Momani stated yesterday that the authorities are ready to act “with an iron fist, without mercy or leniency,” to strike “anyone who attempts to harm Jordan.”
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Source: APE-MPE
