In brief
Nine people were killed in a shooting at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, Jordan, prompting Jordanian forces to carry out an airstrike on a Syrian village. Syrian officials say five civilians, including children and an elderly man, were killed by the strike, while Jordanian pilots claim they targeted terrorist cells. The Syrian government denies prior coordination with Jordan and has closed its only passenger crossing with the kingdom, suspending all traffic. The incident raises fears of further escalation in the already volatile region.
Jordan’s air force launched an attack on a village in the southern Daraa province of Syria on Monday, an operation denounced by Syrian officials as a civilian killing that followed a deadly shoot‑out at a Christian funeral in Jordan’s city of Karak.
The bombing, carried out by Jordanian fighter jets, reportedly killed five people, including women, children and an elderly man, according to Syrian health ministers. Jordan’s Ministry of Defence said the strike destroyed “several terrorist cells” but did not provide naming details, and claimed the operation was coordinated with the Syrian state.
Syrians, however, say they had no notice of the mission and have since shut down the only commercial and passenger crossing linking the two countries, the Nassib crossing, suspending all traffic and opening new channels of direct diplomatic communication with the Jordanians.
The church attack, which took place on Friday and left nine dead and 34 injured in a Greek Orthodox church, prompted Jordan’s Interior Minister Mazen al‑Faraya to announce the arrest of a trio of Jordanians believed to be the culprits. The attack was described by Jordanian officials as an act of “terrorism.”
In the aftermath, the Syrian regime highlighted the need for “comprehensive investigations” to ascertain the circumstances of the Syrian strike, while warning that the region’s insecurity remains high and any provocation could trigger a wider escalation.
