Syria Closes Nassib Border Crossing After Jordan's Airstrikes in Southern Syria

Syria has closed the Nassib border crossing with Jordan, suspending passenger and commercial traffic in both directions, after Jordanian warplanes struck targets in southern Syria on Monday. The crossing at Nassib is Jordan's only passenger and freight gateway into Syria, so the shutdown immediately cuts a key trade and travel route between the two neighbours. Syria's border authority blamed developments on the ground in Daraa province for the closure.

The strikes followed a deadly attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Jordan last week, in which gunmen opened fire during a funeral in the village of Hamoud, killing nine people and wounding at least 34. Jordan's armed forces said they hit what they described as militant hideouts linked to the church attackers, and said the operation was carried out in coordination with Damascus. Syria's government disputed that account, saying it had opened an investigation into the strikes and had expressed its complete reservation over action taken without prior coordination.

Syria's Civil Defence said seven people, including three children and a woman, were killed and three others wounded in strikes on four sites in the countryside of Daraa and Sweida provinces, while Jordanian security forces arrested three suspects after a shootout on Monday. King Abdullah has ordered security forces to respond with an iron fist to the church attack, which Jordanian officials say was carried out by men acting alone. No group has claimed responsibility, and the rival accounts of the strikes have left an already tense border relationship under fresh strain.

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