IN an extraordinary development, Jordanian air force intercepted and then destroyed at least four vehicles last Wednesday that tried to cross the border from the Syrian side into Jordan.
It was an unexpected escalation that underlined Jordan’s determination to stop the flow of infiltrators, whether fighters or smugglers, from Syria. Over the past weeks and months Jordan’s armed forces had arrested, killed or turned back tens of individuals who tried to cross the border illegally. Some of those who were intercepted were rebel fighters, including Jordanians.
The short statement by the Jordanian armed forces did not specify who the infiltrators were. It said they tried to cross along a “difficult geographical region to traverse” and that the air force fired warning shots at the vehicles but they failed to comply and “therefore the [Jordanian fighter jets], in accordance with the rules of engagement, destroyed these vehicles.”
Unconfirmed media reports said the infiltrators were in fact smugglers, while others said that they were US-trained rebel forces. But Israeli sources claimed they were in fact Al-Qaeda terrorists who had come from Iraq, through Syrian territory and tried to cross into Jordan, which has a 370-kilometer-long border with Syria.
Jordan’s fears of extremist fighters trying to find haven in the kingdom are real. Amman has denied reports that it is involved in training Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters in the northern parts of the country. It has rejected repeated Syrian claims that it has allowed sophisticated weapons to pass into rebel hands. None of these claims can be independently corroborated.
Jordan is a close ally of anti-Syrian regime Gulf countries and the United States, and it is a member of the inner core of the Friends of Syria grouping. But officially Jordan has always backed a political solution to the Syrian crisis. The destabilization and a possible partition, of Syria is a source of grave concerns for Jordan.
On the other hand, Jordan has received the second highest number of Syrian refugees, after Lebanon. Numbered between 600,000 and one million, including at least 130,000 refugees in Al-Zaatari Camp, the continued flow of refugees has burdened Jordan’s treasury and resources. A number of Jordanian deputies and politicians have called on the government to seal off the borders with Syria. And last week the foreign ministry said that Jordan’s ability to absorb additional Syrian refugees has reached capacity levels.
It is now likely that Jordan will tighten control of its borders with Syria following last Wednesday’s incident. Fears that the Damascus regime may now turn its attention to the southern Syrian governorate of Daraa may have heightened Amman’s readiness to take extraordinary response toward infiltrators.
The southern border of Syria has exchanged hands over the past months. Some reports say members of Jabhat Al- Nusra are in control of swaths of the southern province, while the FSA is in charge of most towns there. The regime has dropped explosive barrels on the city of Darra and others during the past weeks. There have been speculations that the rebels were getting ready to launch a southern front, which is less than 50 kilometers from Damascus.
Another source of concern for Jordan is the fact that there are 1,000 to 2,500 Jordanians fighting with the rebels, mostly with Jabhat Al-Nusra, which has links to Al-Qaeda. Militants from Jordan are said to be in charge of both Jabhat Al-Nusra and other rebel groups.
The possibility of some of those fighters returning to Jordan raises legitimate security concerns. There are dozens of militants, who were active in Syria, standing trial before Jordan’s State Security Court.
Concerns about a possible spillover from Syria’s civil war into Jordan are genuine. Amman is worried about the increasing influence of the notorious Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Regardless of who was in the camouflaged vehicles that were targeted on Wednesday, Jordan’s firm response is testimony to the kingdom’s readiness to deal with potential threat to its national security.
Jordan has dealt with terrorism before. In the last decade it has been instrumental in tracking and destroying Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Osama Bin Laden’s lieutenant in Iraq, who was responsible for the 2005 Amman hotel bombings. And in the 1990s it confronted the threat of battle-hardened Jordanians who fought the Soviets in Afghanistan, the so-called Afghan Arabs.
This time it appears that Jordan’s determination to stave off threats by infiltrators from Syria is as high if not more. The spillover effect has already taken place in beleaguered Lebanon. Fear of sleeping cells, loyal to the Damascus regime, or runaway fighters seeking refuge in Jordan will be dealt with fiercely and ruthlessly.
n Osama Al Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.
