DUBAI: Jordanian border forces clashed on Thursday with armed smuggling groups attempting to cross the northern border from Syria into Jordan, the Jordan Armed forces said in a statement.
The clashes resulted in the death of four smugglers, while the remaining individuals retreated into Syrian territory.
According to the statement, the smugglers had attempted to exploit poor weather conditions and dense fog to cross the border, but Jordanian forces “applied engagement rules to prevent their infiltration.”
Large quantities of narcotics and weapons were seized and transferred to the relevant authorities, the armed forces said.
The amount of the seized drugs was not disclosed.
In January, Jordan and Syria agreed to form a joint security committee to secure their border, combat arms and drug smuggling and work to prevent the resurgence of Daesh militants.
Western anti-narcotics officials say the addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon has for years been mass-produced in Syria and that Jordan is a transit route to the oil-producing Gulf states.
Jordan’s army has conducted several pre-emptive airstrikes in Syria since 2023 that Jordanian officials say targeted militias accused of links to the drug trade, as well as the militias’ facilities.
Jordanian border forces clash with smugglers, killing four
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Jordanian border forces clash with smugglers, killing four
- Large quantities of narcotics and weapons were seized and transferred to the relevant authorities, the armed forces said
Vessel struck off Oman’s Muscat, UKMTO says
DUBAI: A vessel was struck on Sunday by an unknown projectile 50 nautical miles north of Oman’s capital, Muscat, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said.
The attack resulted in a fire in the vessel’s engine room that has been brought under control, UKMTO added.
It is the second incident the agency reports on Sunday after reporting an incident off Oman’s Kumzar in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian state television said Sunday that an oil tanker was sinking after it was struck while attempting to pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The incident took place as Iran exchanged strikes with the United States and Israel, who launched an attack Saturday that killed the Islamic republic’s supreme leader.
“The fate of the offending oil tanker that was struck while attempting to illegally pass through the Strait of Hormuz is that it is now sinking,” state TV reported, without elaborating.
It carried footage showing heavy black smoke emanating from the burning tanker at sea.
The strait carries a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil and a fifth of all liquified natural gas.
On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had warned that the vital waterway was unsafe due to US and Israeli attacks and was therefore closed to ships.
