Army says soldiers engaged in 'intense' fighting with armed smugglers on northern borders

AMMAN — A source from Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF) on Monday said that "intense" armed clashes broke out earlier in the day between the border guards and infiltrating armed groups along the Kingdom's northern borders with Syria.

The army personnel successfully foiled a major smuggling attempt, and seized large amounts of narcotics, automatic weapons, and missiles, the source said in a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

JAF also said that 12,858 palm-sized sheets of hashish, 4.7 million Captagon pills and 2.6 kilogrammes of crystal meth have been seized on Monday’s operation. JAF also shared photos revealing the identities of eight out of nine smugglers who had been apprehended, as well as the weapons and drugs seized.

The JAF official revealed that the militants were being driven back into Syria, noting that several members of the border guards sustained minor to moderate injuries.

The army said that nine smugglers were arrested and four rocket launchers, four RPG missiles, 10 anti-personnel mines, a JG3 sniper rifle and an M16 rifle equipped with a sniper scope were seized. 

A vehicle loaded with explosives was also neutralized, JAF source said, adding that “large” quantities of narcotics were also seized.

He noted that recent days have seen an escalation in such incidents, which changed from mere infiltration and smuggling attempts to aggressive armed engagements that aim at forcefully breaching the border, with direct assaults on the border guards.

The official stressed that such clashes represent a continuation of the aggressive tactics employed by smugglers, adding that recent engagements have led to the killing of several smugglers, arresting one, the death of a JAF member, and the injury of another.

The military source stressed the armed forces’ vigilance in tracking the movements of these groups and their efforts to de-stabilise the national security, reiterating that the JAF remains resolute in its commitment to deterring and pursuing these groups to maintain the country’s stability and security.