AMMAN: Jordan has closed its only passenger and commercial border crossing into Syria, the interior ministry said on Friday.
A Syrian army source told Reuters that armed groups had been firing at Syria’s Nassib border crossing into Jordan.
“Armed groups who infiltrated the crossing attacked Syrian army posts stationed there,” the source added.
He said dozens of trailers and passengers were now stranded near the area.
Jordan’s interior minister said Jordanians and Jordanian trucks would be allowed to return via the crossing, known as the Jaber crossing on the Jordanian side, while no one would be allowed to cross into Syria.
Also on Friday, Lebanon’s General Security Directorate said the country was closing all land border crossings with Syria except for a main one that links Beirut with the Syrian capital Damascus.
The decision by the security agency in charge of border crossings came hours after an Israeli airstrike damaged the Arida border crossing with Syria in north Lebanon, days after it was reopened.
Separately, Israel’s military said in a statement it planned to reinforce its forces stationed in the Golan Heights and near the border with Syria, where civil war has reignited between the government forces and militants.
The statement said it was “monitoring developments and is prepared for all scenarios, offensive and defensive alike.”
* With AP and Reuters
