Oct 27 (Reuters) – Jordan said on Tuesday it had killed more than 20 Islamic State militants in airstrikes on southern Syria the previous evening, launched in response to a deadly church attack in Jordan that authorities linked to militants operating across the border.
Syria said the strikes killed seven people, including three children and a woman. Jordan regretted the civilian casualties, Government Communication Minister Mohammed al-Momani said in a post on X.
Jordan said on Monday its air force had struck what it described as militant hideouts in southern Syria after determining that the suspects behind last week’s church attack were linked to “terrorist groups” based there.
Jordanian security officials said separately that security forces had arrested two brothers and their brother-in-law following a shootout linked to the church attack, which killed nine people.
No group has claimed responsibility for the assault, although Jordan said the militants targeted in Syria were members of Islamic State.
Monday’s strikes sparked anger in Syria. While the Jordanian military said the strikes were conducted in coordination with Damascus, Syria’s government said they were carried out without prior coordination and announced an investigation.
Statements in recent days by Jordanian authorities that there had been no prior planning of the church attack have added to the confusion, appearing at odds with Jordan’s justification for the cross-border strikes.
Syria’s foreign ministry condemned the Jordanian strikes as a violation of the country’s sovereignty.
It said, however, that Damascus was coordinating with Amman and would establish a joint security committee to strengthen border security and prevent similar incidents from recurring.
(Reporting by Yasmine Ghania and Ahmed Tolba; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Timothy Heritage and Ros Russell)
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