Syria-Jordan border reopens after seven killed in strikes
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Ghanaian Chronicle
Syria and Jordan are reopening the Nassib border crossing after Jordanian strikes on sites attributed to Islamic State killed at least seven people in southern Syria. The two countries will also create a security commission to examine the consequences of the strikes, according to their foreign ministers.
Syria will reopen the Nassib border crossing with Jordan on Wednesday morning, after its temporary closure following Jordanian strikes that killed at least seven people in southern Syria, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported. Regular passenger and goods traffic is due to resume at the crossing, the only one between the two countries.
The strikes carried out by Jordan on Monday targeted suspected Islamic State hideouts in the provinces of Deraa and Sweida. The victims included five members of the same family, including three children, according to the Syrian authorities. Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, Jordan.
Damascus and Amman also agreed to create a security commission tasked with examining the consequences of the strikes, according to a statement issued after a phone call between their foreign ministers. Jordanian minister Ayman Safadi said the raids were based on field intelligence and aimed to neutralise confirmed threats to Jordan’s security.
The reopening comes after traffic was suspended at the Nassib border crossing, announced on 27 October, the day after the Jordanian strikes in Syria.
