Jordan launches air strikes in Syria in response to a fatal church shooting

Syria denies prior coordination with Jordan after deadly air strikes hit two provinces, killing at least seven people.

Members of Jordan's military offer condolences on October 26 for the victims of a deadly church shooting in the village of Hamoud in the Karak governorate [Alaa Al Sukhni/Reuters]

Jordan has carried out air attacks in Syria against what it described as hideouts for armed groups, killing at least seven people, including a woman and children, according to initial reports.

On Monday, the country’s armed forces described the attacks as a response to an incident that saw gunmen open fire on a church last week, leaving nine dead and dozens wounded in Jordan’s Karak governorate.

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The Jordanian operation reportedly targeted “terrorist organisations in southeastern Syria” linked to the church’s attackers.

Monday’s strikes “resulted in the killing and wounding of many members of these terrorist groups and the destruction of a number of their vehicles”, according to the Jordanian military. It did not specify which groups were attacked, nor the precise location of the strikes.

Jordan has said that Monday’s efforts were launched in coordination with the Syrian government.

But Syria has denied coordinating with the Jordanian military. The country’s defence ministry said in a statement on Telegram that one Jordanian attack hit five members of the same family, including three children, a woman and a man.

Two other strikes reportedly killed one 60-year-old man and another who was 80 years old. The Jordanian strikes hit the southern Syrian provinces of Deraa and Suwayda.

The Syrian government has launched an investigation into the Jordanian attacks. In a statement, it stressed the importance of “joint field and security coordination” in border areas.

Following the Jordanian strikes, the Syrian border authority announced the closure of ⁠the Nassib border crossing with Jordan, suspending traffic in both directions.

The Nassib crossing ‌is Jordan’s only passenger and commercial border crossing ‌with ‌Syria.

Jordanian security forces guard an area in the village of al-Jadeeda in the Karak governorate on October 26, 2026 [Jordan’s General Security Directorate via AFP]

Earlier on Monday, Jordanian security forces arrested two brothers and their brother-in-law in the village of Al-Jadeeda, after a shootout with authorities. The three men are suspects in the October 23 church attack.

A Jordanian government source told Al Jazeera that the suspects sustained serious injuries during the confrontation, which lasted for about three hours.

Monday’s arrests and air strikes in Syria come after Jordan’s King Abdullah II pledged a stern response to the church attack.

The attack saw three men allegedly open fire on a Greek Orthodox church during a funeral about 90km (56 miles) south of the capital, Amman.

Karak is home to a minority Christian population, which makes up about 300,000 of Jordan’s 11.5 million people.

King Abdullah said those behind the attack would face the “harshest penalties” and ordered a review of the country’s security procedures in the aftermath.

叙利亚否认此前与约旦进行过协调，此前致命的空袭袭击了两个省份，造成至少7人死亡。

10月26日，约旦军方人员向卡拉克省哈穆德村教堂枪击案的遇难者表示慰问。[阿拉·苏赫尼/路透社]

据初步报道，约旦对叙利亚境内其所称的武装团体藏身处发动了空袭，造成至少7人死亡，其中包括一名妇女和儿童。

周一，该国武装部队将此次袭击描述为对上周发生在约旦卡拉克省的一起枪击事件的回应。该事件中，枪手向一座教堂开火，造成九人死亡，数十人受伤。

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约旦警方黎明突袭教堂，逮捕三名涉嫌袭击教堂的嫌疑人：你需要了解的信息（共三条，此为第二条）

名单3/3：约旦逮捕三名涉嫌教堂致命袭击的嫌疑人

据报道，约旦的这次行动目标是与教堂袭击者有关的“叙利亚东南部的恐怖组织”。

据约旦军方称，周一的空袭“造成多名恐怖组织成员伤亡，并摧毁了他们的多辆车辆”。但军方并未具体说明哪些组织遭到袭击，也未透露空袭的确切地点。

约旦方面表示，周一的行动是与叙利亚政府协调发起的。

但叙利亚否认与约旦军方协调行动。约旦国防部在Telegram上发表声明称，约旦的一次袭击导致同一家庭的五名成员受伤，其中包括三名儿童、一名妇女和一名男子。

据报道，另有两起空袭造成一名60岁男子和一名80岁男子死亡。约旦的空袭目标是叙利亚南部的德拉省和苏韦达省。

叙利亚政府已对约旦袭击事件展开调查。在一份声明中，叙利亚政府强调了在边境地区开展“联合实地和安全协调”的重要性。

约旦发动空袭后，叙利亚边防当局宣布关闭与约旦接壤的纳西卜边境口岸，暂停双向通行。

纳西卜口岸是约旦与叙利亚之间唯一的客运和商业边境口岸。

2026年10月26日，约旦安全部队在卡拉克省贾迪达村守卫一处区域。[约旦安全总局 via 法新社]

周一早些时候，约旦安全部队在与警方交火后，在贾迪达村逮捕了两兄弟及其姐夫。这三人涉嫌参与10月23日发生的教堂袭击事件。

约旦政府消息人士告诉半岛电视台，嫌疑人在持续约三个小时的冲突中受了重伤。

周一，叙利亚境内的逮捕行动和空袭发生在约旦国王阿卜杜拉二世誓言对教堂袭击事件做出严厉回应之后。

据称，三名男子在首都安曼以南约 90 公里（56 英里）的一座希腊东正教教堂举行葬礼期间开枪射击。

卡拉克居住着少数基督徒人口，约占约旦1150万人口的30万。

阿卜杜拉国王表示，袭击事件的幕后黑手将面临“最严厉的惩罚”，并下令对该国的安全程序进行审查。