Jordan strikes militant groups in Syria after church attack

Jordan s military carried out airstrikes against terrorist groups in Syria on Monday, responding to a deadly attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Jordan the previous week. The strikes targeted several terrorist positions, resulting in the deaths and injuries of numerous members of groups linked to the church attackers. Syrian authorities reported civilian casualties, with six people, including three children and a woman, killed in Daraa province and one person killed in Sweida province.

In Jordan, three men accused of the church attack were arrested, identified as Hazza Zaidan Mohammed, Meshal Zaidan Mohammed and Ahmad Sami Hussein. The suspects were cornered in an abandoned house where they had barricaded themselves and opened fire on security forces. All three terrorists were injured and are receiving treatment in the hospital.

Jordan s director of public security vowed that the country will remain secure and that no one will challenge it. King Abdullah II expressed strong condemnation of the attack, vowing that the terrorists would not escape punishment. The attackers were reportedly all Jordanian and had been hiding in a nearby village. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya stated that there was no evidence of external involvement or collaboration with foreign parties.

The government declared a three-day national mourning period for the victims and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast.