Syria reopened its main border crossing with Jordan on Wednesday morning, and the two countries will investigate Jordanian air strikes on suspected ISIL (ISIS) sites in southern Syria, Al Jazeera reported. The Nassib crossing, known as Jaber on the Jordanian side, is Jordan's only border crossing with Syria open to passenger and commercial traffic.
Source: Al Jazeera
Senior Syrian customs official Mazen Alloush told the state news agency SANA that movement through the crossing would return to normal from Wednesday morning, AFP reported via CNA. The crossing had been briefly closed following Monday's strikes.
The strikes and the deaths are reported differently by the two sides, and both accounts are set out here as each government gave them. Syria said Jordan's strikes killed at least seven people in Deraa and Suwayda, including five members of the same family, three of whom were children, and Syria's Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management said its teams had responded to attacks at four sites, Al Jazeera reported. Xinhua reported seven civilians killed and three others injured in Daraa province.
Source: Xinhua, via HiIndia
The Jordanian military said the strikes targeted ISIL "hideouts" in southern Syria on Monday in response to a Greek Orthodox church shooting by gunmen in Jordan's Karak on Friday, and that ISIL took responsibility for that attack, Al Jazeera reported.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Monday's air attacks were based on field intelligence and aimed at "neutralising confirmed threats and imminent terrorist operations targeting Jordan's security," according to Al Jazeera.
Jordan had claimed the strikes were coordinated with the Syrian government, which Damascus denied, Al Jazeera reported — a public disagreement that made the border closure the two neighbours' most serious open dispute since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
The two countries agreed to form a security committee to examine the aftermath of the strikes, their foreign ministers said in a statement following a phone call late on Tuesday between Safadi and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani. In addition to investigating the attacks, the committee will develop field and intelligence coordination in dealing with terrorist threats, with the stated aim of protecting innocent civilians.
Safadi expressed "deep regret" over civilian deaths in his call with al-Shaibani and stressed Jordan's respect for Syria's sovereignty and stability, Al Jazeera reported. Xinhua reported that Safadi also extended condolences to the victims' families, and that both officials stressed direct security coordination against terrorism and cross-border drug and arms smuggling.
The reopening restores a vital trade and travel route between the two countries. What the joint committee finds — and whether Damascus and Amman can coordinate against militant groups along their shared border without further civilian deaths — will decide whether this week's crisis becomes a one-off or a pattern.