Jordan stops fighters entering from Syria amid heightened border tensions

Show caption: A picture taken during a tour origanized by the Jordanian Ar…

Jordanian border guards clashed with around 14 armed men attempting to cross from Syria, days after the countries reopened their main border crossing

The National

October 31, 2026

• Jordanian border guards repelled an armed infiltration attempt by approximately 14 gunmen crossing from Syria on Friday evening.
• The infiltration was attempted under heavy covering fire, with several gunmen injured before the group fled back into Syrian territory.
• The incident occurred two days after Syria and Jordan reopened their shared border crossing for passenger and commercial traffic.
• The border crossing had been temporarily closed following Jordanian airstrikes in southern Syria, which Damascus said killed seven civilians.
• Border guards engaged "immediately and decisively, in accordance with established rules of engagement," the Jordanian military said.

Jordanian border guards clashed with a group of approximately 14 armed men attempting to cross from Syria into Jordan on Friday evening, the Jordanian military said in a statement, adding that the infiltration attempt had been thwarted.

The gunmen attempted entry under heavy covering fire, with border guard personnel engaging “immediately and decisively, in accordance with established rules of engagement," the statement said.

Several among the armed group were injured, while the remaining members fled back into Syrian territory, the Jordanian military added. The statement did not clarify whether the injured gunmen were taken captive.

The incident occurred just two days after Syria and Jordan reopened their only border crossing for passenger and commercial traffic, following a temporary closure prompted by Jordanian airstrikes in southern Syria that Syrian authorities said killed seven civilians, including three children, a woman and an elderly man.

Jordan’s Armed Forces said two ISIS members were killed in the strikes that targeted hideouts of the militants linked to the Karak Church shooting, in which gunmen opened fire on a funeral procession, killing nine people and wounding at least 30 others.

The airstrikes, carried out on Monday in the southern Syrian provinces of Daraa and Sweida, sparked a diplomatic dispute. In an effort to ease tensions, the two countries agreed to establish a joint security committee to investigate the strikes and strengthen intelligence and security co-operation against militant threats.

Updated:

October 31, 2026, 10:51 AM