Jordan launches airstrike campaign into Syria after shootout with militants backed by Iran, Assad

Jordan has launched an aerial campaign into southern Syria near the two countries’ border, in an effort to combat the increasing arms and narcotics smuggling being carried out by militias backed by Iran and Syria.

According to media reports, the Jordanian military yesterday launched several aerial raids into southern Syria against sites allegedly used by Iranian-backed drug traffickers and militias, after intercepting dozens of armed militants who infiltrated territory through the Syria-Jordan border.

The Jordanian armed forces foiled an operation to smuggle drugs and arms into the Hashemite Kingdom during that incident, with the state-run channel, Al-Mamlaka, reporting that they captured a number of rocket launchers, anti-personnel mines and explosives being transported by the smugglers.

Last night, #Assad-linked drug smugglers engaged in major hours-long battles with #Jordan armed forces.

9 were captured alive, along with 5 million #Captagon pills, 13,000 marijuana packets, advanced anti-tank rockets & #Iran made 107mm artillery rockets.

A marked escalation. pic.twitter.com/z00sQathd1

— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) December 18, 2023

In the process of what is reported to be the biggest armed smuggling operation carried out across the border until now, the military reportedly blew up a vehicle carrying explosives. Following the hours-long gun battles, Jordanian forces also captured nine militants and several troops were declared to be injured.

Media reports quoted Samih Maayteh – former Jordanian minister and communications and media mogul, who said that officials briefed him on the developments – as stating that “Jordan knows the country that stands behind this. It’s Iran that is sponsoring these militias. These are hostile military actions against Jordan on its territory”.

Many have noted that the sharp increase in drug trafficking operations across the Syrian-Jordanian border over the past year has been enabled by Amman’s full reconciliation and restoration of relations with Damascus back in May.

That move initially caused a plethora of analysts and policymakers to predict that it would stem the flow of narcotics into Jordan by giving Bashar Al-Assad’s regime incentive to prevent its affiliated militias and armed gangs from the production and trafficking of the drugs such as Captagon.

So far, Jordan has refrained from criticising the Syrian regime in public, instead conducting a number of diplomatic visits to Damascus while Jordanian forces attempt to combat the smuggling operations – increasingly through military action.

In May, for example, an airstrike hit a village in southern Syria’s Sweida province, killing a notorious drug lord and his family. In August, too, another airstrike hit a narcotics production site near the border. Although Jordan has not confirmed its involvement, it is believed the Kingdom’s Air Force carried out the strikes.

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