Jordan strikes inside Syria unjustifiable, against agreements: MFA

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
23 Jan 2024 16:41
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Syria's Foreign Ministry affirms that the recent escalation witnessed in the past months does not align with the agreements on combating smuggling and drugs.

Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SANA)

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed "deep regret" on Tuesday over the airstrikes conducted by the Jordanian Air Force on areas inside Syrian territory.

The Ministry emphasized that there is "no justification for such military operations within Syrian territory" and stated that the recent escalation witnessed in the past months does not align with the agreements reached between the Syrian-Jordanian committees set for cooperation in combating smuggling and drugs,

The Ministry cited the messages sent by the foreign affairs, defense, and security ministers to their counterparts in the Hashemite Kingdom, which included proposals for practical steps to secure the borders and Syria's readiness to collaborate with Jordanian authorities.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry responded by stating that "those messages were ignored, and Damascus did not receive any response from the Jordanian side."

“Foreign and Defense ministries along with Security officials in Syria sent messages to their Jordanian counterparts, suggesting taking practical and effective steps for controlling the joint borders, and voicing Syria’s readiness to cooperate with the Jordanian Security institutions, but no response was received”, the statement read.

Moreover, the Ministry stressed that Syria "persists in its battle against terrorism and deals with all offenses associated with smuggling and drug trafficking to bring them to an end."

To conclude, the Foreign Ministry said, "Syria reaffirms that since 2011, it has suffered influx of thousands of terrorists and passage of huge quantities of weapons from neighboring countries, including Jordan, which led to the death of thousands of innocent people and caused great suffering to Syrians in various domains, not to mention destruction of infrastructure.”

This comes after the killing of 10 Syrian civilians in an airstrike on the villages of Melh and Arman, south of Sweida, near the border with Jordan a few days ago.

At the time, local Syrian media reports suggested that the aircraft responsible for the airstrikes were likely to belong to the Jordanian Air Force. However, Amman has not issued any official statements or clarifications on the matter.