Jordan said on Tuesday that it had killed more than 20 Islamic State militants in airstrikes on southern Syria the previous evening, launched in response to a deadly church attack in Jordan that authorities linked to militants operating across the border, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters

Syria said the strikes killed seven people. Jordan regretted the civilian casualties, Government Communication Minister Mohammed al-Momani said in a post on X, according to Reuters. The Associated Press reported that Syria's civil defence agency said it had recovered the bodies of seven people killed in strikes in the southern Daraa and Sweida provinces. No minors are named in this report.

Source: AP

Jordan said on Monday its air force had struck what it described as militant hideouts in southern Syria after determining that the suspects behind last week's church attack were linked to terrorist groups based there. Jordanian security officials said separately that security forces had arrested two brothers and their brother-in-law following a shootout linked to the church attack, which killed nine people.

The attack struck a Greek Orthodox church during a funeral in Karak, about 90 kilometres south of the capital Amman, on Friday and wounded more than two dozen people, the Associated Press reported. No group has claimed responsibility for the assault, although Jordan said the militants targeted in Syria were members of Islamic State.

Conflicting accounts, and a joint committee

Monday's strikes sparked anger in Syria. While the Jordanian military said the strikes were conducted in coordination with Damascus, Syria's government said they were carried out without prior coordination and announced an investigation, Reuters reported.

Syria's foreign ministry condemned the Jordanian strikes as a violation of the country's sovereignty. It said, however, that Damascus was coordinating with Amman and would establish a joint security committee to strengthen border security and prevent similar incidents from recurring.