Syrian state TV reported Jordanian strikes on a drugs and weapons storage in the southern Druze-majority province of Suweida, most of which is outside the control of Damascus.
State television quoted local sources saying the Jordanian army “likely… targeted a headquarters containing weapons and drugs controlled by rebel groups in the village of Shahba in Suweida”.
Separately, the Jordanian army said it had “carried out a Jordanian deterrent operation targeting several locations used by arms and drug traffickers along the Kingdom’s northern border”.
The military added that it will “continue to deal proactively, decisively, and deterrently with any threat to the security and sovereignty of the Kingdom, and will dedicate their capabilities and resources to confronting it with full force and determination”.
Local sources told an AFP correspondent that a series of airstrikes targeted at least five locations, including warehouses in the Syrian town of Arman.
During the Syrian conflict, before the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, the drug captagon became the country’s largest export, its trade serving as a key funding source for the ousted president’s government.
The synthetic drug has flooded the region, with neighbouring countries occasionally announcing seizures and asking Lebanon and Syria to ramp up efforts to combat the trade.
Jordan has previously carried out strikes on southern Syria to target drug-trafficking networks.
Ever since the new government led by President Ahmed Al-Sharaa took over in Syria after Assad’s ouster, Damascus and Amman have committed to fighting drug smuggling on their border.
Most of Suweida province however, which borders Jordan, is controlled by pro-Israeli Druze armed groups hostile to the Sharaa government.
Areas targeted by Saturday’s Jordanian strikes are under the control of these groups, according to the AFP correspondent.
