Current:Home > ScamsSyria pushes back against Jordanian strikes on drug traffickers on Syrian territory-LoTradeCoin
Syria pushes back against Jordanian strikes on drug traffickers on Syrian territory
View Date:2024-12-23 23:16:04
DAMASCUS (AP) — Syria’s foreign ministry in a statement Tuesday condemned recent presumed Jordanian airstrikes against suspected drug traffickers on Syrian territory, including one last week that killed women and children.
The foreign ministry statement, its first to address the issue, “expressed its deep regret over the strikes directed by the Jordanian Air Force,” which it said had been justified “as being directed at elements involved in drug smuggling across the border into Jordan.”
Smugglers have used Jordan as a corridor over the past years to smuggle highly addictive Captagon amphetamines out of Syria, mainly to oil-rich Arab Gulf states.
The Syrian statement said there was “no justification for such military operations,” adding that “since 2011 (Syria) has suffered from the influx of tens of thousands of terrorists and the passage of huge quantities of weapons from neighboring countries, including Jordan.”
An airstrike in the province of Sweida in southern Syria early Thursday killed at least nine people and was probably carried out by Jordan’s air force, Syrian opposition activists said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said nine people, including two children and at least three women, were killed in the strike.
Jordan typically does not confirm or comment on the strikes and did not comment on the Syrian foreign ministry’s statement.
Jordan helped to facilitate Syria’s return to the Arab League last year, 12 years after the league suspended Damascus because of the harsh crackdown on anti-government protesters in an uprising that quickly descended into a brutal civil war.
At the time of Syria’s readmission, the league expressed hope that its reintegration would help push it to combat drug trafficking. Jordan and the Arab Gulf countries, in particular, have been concerned about the mass production of Captagon in Syria.
The Jordanian authorities have recently cracked down on smuggling attempts, including some in which smugglers used drones to fly the drugs over the border.
veryGood! (67)
Related
- ‘I got my life back.’ Veterans with PTSD making progress thanks to service dog program
- Jury awards Abu Ghraib detainees $42 million, holds contractor responsible
- U.S.-Mexico water agreement might bring relief to parched South Texas
- Kevin Costner Shares His Honest Reaction to John Dutton's Controversial Fate on Yellowstone
- Suicides in the US military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend
- Trump has promised to ‘save TikTok’. What happens next is less clear
- See Megan Fox, Machine Gun Kelly, Brian Austin Green and Sharna Burgess' Blended Family Photos
- The ancient practice of tai chi is more popular than ever. Why?
- Taking stock of bonds: Does the 60/40 rule still have a role in retirement savings?
- Apologetic rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine gets 45 days in prison for probation violations
Ranking
- Republican Gabe Evans ousts Democratic US Rep. Yadira Caraveo in Colorado
- Police cruiser strikes and kills a bicyclist pulling a trailer in Vermont
- NBC's hospital sitcom 'St. Denis Medical' might heal you with laughter: Review
- Mike Tyson emerges as heavyweight champ among product pitchmen before Jake Paul fight
- Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly are expecting their first child together
- Too Hot to Handle’s Francesca Farago Gives Birth, Welcomes Twins With Jesse Sullivan
- John Robinson, successful football coach at USC and with the LA Rams, has died at 89
- Former NFL coach Jack Del Rio charged with operating vehicle while intoxicated
Recommendation
-
Today's Craig Melvin Replacing Hoda Kotb: Everything to Know About the Beloved Anchor
-
'Unfortunate error': 'Wicked' dolls with porn site on packaging pulled from Target, Amazon
-
Gerry Faust, the former head football coach at Notre Dame, has died at 89
-
MVSU football player killed, driver injured in crash after police chase
-
1 million migrants in the US rely on temporary protections that Trump could target
-
Chris Wallace will leave CNN 3 years after defecting from 'Fox News Sunday'
-
Man accused of killing American tourist in Budapest, putting her body in suitcase: Police
-
Stressing over Election Day? Try these apps and tools to calm your nerves