Syriaupdated 1h ago3 min read
MapJordan Kills More Than 20 Islamic State Militants in Syria Airstrikes, Syria Shuts Border Crossing
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Jordan claims killed more than 20 Islamic State militants in southern Syria strikes Syrian officials say civilians were killed in the Jordanian airstrikes, escalating tensions
Airstrikes spark crisis
Jordanian airstrikes hit southern Syria near the main border crossing, and the strikes killed civilians in Daraa province, triggering a first major crisis in Jordanian-Syrian relations.
Mourners prayed during the funeral of four members of the same family, including three children, who were killed in a Jordanian airstrike on the town of Mismiyah in Syria's southern Daraa province on Oct. 27, 2026.
Jordan and Syria agreed to form a joint committee to investigate Jordanian airstrikes that killed several civilians in Syria, while Jordan said its airstrikes in Syria killed around 20 militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group and Syrian authorities reported seven deaths, most of them women and children.
Jordan launched the strikes on Monday evening in retaliation for last week's attack on a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the southern Jordanian city of Karak, which killed nine people, and Jordan's death toll differed from figures reported by Syrian emergency responders.
Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks as an “unacceptable violation and encroachment” of Syrian airspace, while also saying the leaderships would strengthen security coordination to “obstruct any efforts to destabilize the two countries' security and spill the blood of its people.”
Competing death tolls
Syrian authorities reported seven deaths, most of them women and children, while Jordan said its airstrikes in Syria killed around 20 militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group, and the two sides acknowledged that civilians were also killed. Syria rejected Amman’s claim that it had coordinated with Syrian authorities before striking ISIS militants, and the Syrian Foreign Ministry described the attacks in Daraa province as an “unacceptable violation of Syrian airspace with no prior coordination.” Syria said the strikes killed seven people, including three children and a woman, and Government Communication Minister Mohammed al-Momani said Jordan “regrets the civilian casualties.”
A resident, Salah Mahwash, spoke to Reuters during the funeral of four people including three children in Al-Mismiyah, and Mahwash said, “Today, as you can see, these are people just trying to make a living, tending to their sheep and goats and doing manual labour.” The Jordanian military said the strikes were conducted in coordination with Damascus, while Syria’s government said they were carried out without prior coordination and said it would hold an investigation.
Border closure and committees
Syria announced the closing of its main border crossing with Jordan, the Nassib-Jaber crossing, effective Tuesday, halting passenger and commercial travel between the two countries after Jordanian airstrikes on suspected militant sites in southern Syria. Syrian authorities reported the bombings killed eight civilians, including women and children, and injured several more, while Damascus criticized the action as carried out without prior cooperation with Syrian authorities. The joint statement issued after a telephone conversation between the two countries' foreign ministers committed them to “develop mechanisms for field and intelligence coordination to deal with terrorist threats in a manner that ensures the preservation of Syrian sovereignty and the protection of the lives of innocent civilians.”
The first sign of divergence appeared in each side’s version of events, with Amman claiming responsibility for Monday evening’s strikes through its army and targeting near the main border crossing, while the article framed relations as turning sour after the deadly Jordanian strikes. Jordan and Syria said they were in contact and following up on the incident, and Syria's civil defence authorities recovered bodies of seven civilians killed in the strikes in Daraa and Sweida, including five victims from the same family, with three children and a woman.