Aircraft of the Royal Jordanian Air Force have reportedly conducted at least two waves of airstrikes on warehouses and facilities linked to Iranian and Assad-backed smugglers, near the town of al-Ghariyah al-Gharbiyah in south western Syria.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle...er-2023-12-18/
Jordan says it foiled plot by Iran-linked drug smugglers
AMMAN, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Jordan's army said it foiled a plot on Monday by dozens of infiltrators from Syria linked to pro-Iranian militias, who crossed its border with rocket launchers, anti-personnel mines and explosives.
State broadcaster al Mamlaka said the army blew up a vehicle laden with explosives as it resisted the biggest armed cross-border operation to smuggle weapons and drugs in recent years.
The army earlier said the infiltrators had fled back across the border after injuring several army personnel in the latest of several major incursions since the start of the month that has left one Jordanian soldier and at least a dozen smugglers dead.
Intelligence sources said Jordanian jets launched rare raids into its northern neighbour Syria against hideouts of Iranian-backed drug smugglers in retaliation against the smuggling operation.
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They said the bombing targeted homes of leading drug dealers and farms that intelligence showed were safe houses for the heavily armed traffickers who have also used drones to drop their hauls.
Earlier officials had said the Jordanian army was considering conducting pre-emptive strikes inside Syria against those militias linked to the drug trade and their facilities in a bid to stem what they say is an alarming rise in cross-border incursions.
Jordanian officials, like their Western allies, say that Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group and pro-Iranian militias who control much of southern Syria were behind a surge in drug and weapons smuggling.
"Jordan knows the country that stands behind this. It's Iran that is sponsoring these militias. These are hostile military actions against Jordan on its territory," said Samih Maayteh, a former minister briefed by officials on developments.