AMMAN: A state security court in Jordan on Monday sentenced one Syrian militant to death and handed life sentences to three others for their role in a suicide bombing attack on a Jordanian military border post that killed seven guards last year.
Military judge Col. Mohammad Al-Afif said the men, in their early twenties, were involved in helping Daesh stage the suicide bombing that shook the kingdom in June last year.
Afif said the four had provided photos and intelligence about the Jordanian military post to a Daesh leader in the former de facto capital of the militants, Raqqa in Syria. The Daesh leader then sent the suicide bomber.
The military outpost was located a few hundred meters away from Rukban camp in a no-man’s land where thousands of Syrian refugees were stranded and near where the frontiers of Iraq, Syria and Jordan meet.
The court found the four, who were residents of the camp, guilty of “abetting terrorist acts that led to the death of human beings” and other charges of committing “terrorist acts using automatic weapons.”
A fifth defendant was acquitted. They had all pleaded not guilty when the trial began last March.
Officials said at the time the suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden car at full speed from behind a berm and evaded troops to reach the Jordanian post and detonate his car.
The blast, for which Daesh claimed responsibility a few days later, also left 15 soldiers wounded, officials said.
The area was later declared a closed military zone and the incident disrupted aid to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees.
Jordan, which has kept tight control of its frontier with Syria since the outbreak of war in its neighbor, is a partner in a US-led coalition fighting militants in Syria and Iraq, and has been the target of attacks before.
Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing violence and Russian airstrikes in the eastern Homs desert had sought shelter at Rukban, a remote desert camp. King Abdallah had said there were militants among them and Jordan refused to allow them to enter on security grounds.
Jordan sentences Syrian to death over border attack
Jordan sentences Syrian to death over border attack
Syria evacuates flood-affected residents of displacement camps in Idlib
- Emergency teams conduct drainage operations, clear culverts within camps, reopen more than 25 roads, 30 water channels
- Teams coordinate with Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, Idlib governor’s office to oversee distribution of humanitarian aid
LONDON: Authorities from the Syrian Arab Republic have evacuated dozens of families from six displacement camps in western Idlib in the past two days after severe weather caused flooding and damage.
Raed Al-Saleh, the Syrian minister of emergency and disaster management, said 173 families had been moved from camps in Badama and Khirbet Al-Jouz to temporary shelter centers in Idlib Governorate.
Emergency teams have conducted drainage operations, cleared culverts within the camps, reopened more than 25 roads and 30 water channels, and removed five earthen berms as part of preparation for further weather systems, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
They are coordinating with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, and the Idlib governor’s office to oversee the distribution of humanitarian aid.
A rubble removal and road restoration project in Jabal Al-Akrad in the Latakia Governorate has also been initiated to help facilitate residents’ return, the SANA added.
Heavy rainfall in northern and western Syria has resulted in flash floods since Saturday that have swept through areas near seasonal waterways in western Idlib Governorate. The floods have submerged several tents and prompted authorities to evacuate families and open temporary shelters for those displaced.
