BEIRUT: An airstrike early Thursday hit an alleged drug factory in southern Syria near the Jordanian border, causing damage but there was not word on casualties, Syrian opposition activists said. They said the attack was believed to have been carried out by Jordan’s air force.
Jordan’s state media reported over the past weeks that several drones carrying drugs were shot down after crossing from Syria.
The Captagon industry has been a huge concern for Jordan, as well as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, as hundreds of millions of pills have been smuggled over the years, where the drug is used recreationally and by people with physically demanding jobs to keep them alert.
Ahmad Al-Masalmeh, an opposition activist who covers developments in southern Syria said the target was also used as a narcotics warehouse where smugglers would prepare and package illegal drugs before smuggling them across the southern border into Jordan.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition war monitor, also reported the strike, saying the factory was destroyed. Meanwhile, the pro-government Sham FM radio station said the strike hit a farm, causing material damage. Neither immediately reported any injuries or deaths.
The strike was over the village of Um Rumman, a stone’s throw from the Jordanian border, in the Druze-majority southern Sweida province where anti-government protests have stretched for a second week.
In May, an airstrike over a village in the southern Sweida province killed a well-known Syrian drug kingpin and his family, which activists believe was conducted by the Jordanians. Amman has been concerned by militias’ drug smuggling across the Syrian border into the kingdom, most notably highly addictive Captagon amphetamines, which have turned into an estimated multi-billion-dollar industry in war-torn Syria.
Jordan has never confirmed nor denied conducting May’s airstrike, but has said on several occasions that it would use force in its ongoing efforts to combat smuggling across the border. Neither Jordanian officials nor Jordanian state media have yet commented on Thursday’s strike.
The United States, United Kingdom, and western governments have accused Assad and associates in Syria’s cash-strapped government of taking the lead in Captagon production, and have sanctioned relatives of Assad, Lebanese drug lynchpins, businessmen and other associates in Syria for their involvement in the industry.
![]()
Airstrike on southern Syria hits alleged drug factory
Short Url
https://arab.news/4zn6y
Airstrike on southern Syria hits alleged drug factory
- Jordan shot down several drones carrying drugs after crossing from Syria
- The strike was over the village of Um Rumman
Protesters block Beirut roads after Cabinet approves new taxes that raise fuel prices
- On Tuesday, taxi drivers and others shut down key routes and warn they can escalate
- The government says the money supports salary and pension boosts for public workers after the currency collapse
BEIRUT: Protesters blocked main roads in and around Beirut on Tuesday after Lebanon’s Cabinet approved new taxes that raise fuel prices and other products to fund public pay hikes.
The Cabinet approved a tax of 300,000 Lebanese pounds (about $3.30) on every 20 liters (5.3 gallons) of gasoline on Monday. Diesel fuel was exempted from the new tax, as most in Lebanon depend on it to run private generators to make up for severe shortages in state electricity.
The government also agreed to increase the value-added tax on all products already subject to the levy from 11 to 12 percent, which the parliament still has to approve.
The tax increases are to support raises and pension boosts of public employees, after wages lost value in the 2019 currency collapse, giving them the equivalent of an additional six months’ salary. Information Minister Paul Morcos said the pay increases were estimated to cost about $800 million.
Though the Mediterranean country sits on one of the largest gold reserves in the Middle East, it suffers ongoing inflation and widespread corruption. The cash-strapped country also suffered about $11 billion in damages in the 2024 war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.
Anger over fuel hike
Ghayath Saadeh, one of a group of taxi drivers who blocked a main road leading into downtown Beirut, said the country’s leaders “consider us taxi drivers to be garbage.”
“Everything is getting more expensive, food and drinks, and Ramadan is coming,” he said. “We will block all the roads, God willing, if they don’t respond to us.”
When the Lebanese government proposed new taxes in 2019, including a $6 monthly fee for using Internet calls through services such as WhatsApp, mass protests broke out that paralyzed the country for months. Demonstrators called for the country’s leaders to step down over widespread corruption, government paralysis and failing infrastructure, and for an end to the country’s sectarian power-sharing system.
Lebanon has been under international pressure to make financial reforms for years, but has so far made little progress.
Weapons plan discussed
Also Monday, the cabinet received a report from the Lebanese army on its progress on a plan to disarm non-state militant groups in the country, including Hezbollah.
Last month, the army announced it had completed the first phase of the plan, covering the area south of the Litani River, near the border with Israel. The second phase of the plan will cover segments of southern Lebanon between the Litani and the Awali rivers, which includes the port city of Sidon.
Morcos, the information minister, said following the cabinet session that the second stage is expected to take four months but could be extended “depending on the available resources, the continuation of Israeli attacks and the obstacles on the ground.”
The disarmament plan comes after a US-brokered ceasefire nominally ended a war between Hezbollah and Israel in November 2024. Since then, Israel has accused Hezbollah of rebuilding and has continued to launch near-daily strikes in Lebanon and to occupy several hilltop points on the Lebanese side of the border.
Hezbollah has insisted that the ceasefire deal only requires it to disarm south of the Litani and that it will not discuss disarming in the rest of the country until Israel stops its strikes and withdraws from all Lebanese territory.
The Cabinet approved a tax of 300,000 Lebanese pounds (about $3.30) on every 20 liters (5.3 gallons) of gasoline on Monday. Diesel fuel was exempted from the new tax, as most in Lebanon depend on it to run private generators to make up for severe shortages in state electricity.
The government also agreed to increase the value-added tax on all products already subject to the levy from 11 to 12 percent, which the parliament still has to approve.
The tax increases are to support raises and pension boosts of public employees, after wages lost value in the 2019 currency collapse, giving them the equivalent of an additional six months’ salary. Information Minister Paul Morcos said the pay increases were estimated to cost about $800 million.
Though the Mediterranean country sits on one of the largest gold reserves in the Middle East, it suffers ongoing inflation and widespread corruption. The cash-strapped country also suffered about $11 billion in damages in the 2024 war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.
Anger over fuel hike
Ghayath Saadeh, one of a group of taxi drivers who blocked a main road leading into downtown Beirut, said the country’s leaders “consider us taxi drivers to be garbage.”
“Everything is getting more expensive, food and drinks, and Ramadan is coming,” he said. “We will block all the roads, God willing, if they don’t respond to us.”
When the Lebanese government proposed new taxes in 2019, including a $6 monthly fee for using Internet calls through services such as WhatsApp, mass protests broke out that paralyzed the country for months. Demonstrators called for the country’s leaders to step down over widespread corruption, government paralysis and failing infrastructure, and for an end to the country’s sectarian power-sharing system.
Lebanon has been under international pressure to make financial reforms for years, but has so far made little progress.
Weapons plan discussed
Also Monday, the cabinet received a report from the Lebanese army on its progress on a plan to disarm non-state militant groups in the country, including Hezbollah.
Last month, the army announced it had completed the first phase of the plan, covering the area south of the Litani River, near the border with Israel. The second phase of the plan will cover segments of southern Lebanon between the Litani and the Awali rivers, which includes the port city of Sidon.
Morcos, the information minister, said following the cabinet session that the second stage is expected to take four months but could be extended “depending on the available resources, the continuation of Israeli attacks and the obstacles on the ground.”
The disarmament plan comes after a US-brokered ceasefire nominally ended a war between Hezbollah and Israel in November 2024. Since then, Israel has accused Hezbollah of rebuilding and has continued to launch near-daily strikes in Lebanon and to occupy several hilltop points on the Lebanese side of the border.
Hezbollah has insisted that the ceasefire deal only requires it to disarm south of the Litani and that it will not discuss disarming in the rest of the country until Israel stops its strikes and withdraws from all Lebanese territory.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.