OMM Newsroom
Syria summoned Jordan’s ambassador to Damascus, Sufian al-Qudah, on Wednesday and handed him a formal protest note over Jordanian airstrikes on civilian sites in the southern province of Daraa, according to Anadolu Agency, citing a statement by the Syrian Foreign Ministry’s media department carried by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
The summons came a day after Syria and Jordan agreed to establish a joint security committee to investigate the strikes and improve coordination to protect civilians and safeguard Syrian sovereignty.
The agreement followed a late Tuesday phone call between Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi. Safadi expressed deep regret over the casualties and offered condolences to the Syrian people.
Safadi said the strikes targeted ISIS (Daesh) positions, based on intelligence about confirmed threats and imminent attacks against Jordan.
Syrian authorities said seven people were killed in Monday’s strikes. Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said on Tuesday that the strikes killed more than 20 ISIS members and destroyed a major weapons depot.
The Jordanian military said the operation targeted groups linked to a Friday attack on mourners at a church in Jordan’s southern Karak province, in which nine people were killed.
Syria condemned the strikes as a violation of its sovereignty, saying they had been carried out without coordination with Damascus.
