Jordan kills gunmen in clash with ‘infiltrators’ from Syria

Army reports rest of armed group pushed back into Syria

Jordanian soldiers patrol the border with Syria. AFP

Jordan's army killed two men in a clash on Friday with a group of gunmen who tried to infiltrate the kingdom from Syria, the military said. The area is a major conduit of narcotics in the region.

The Jordanian Armed Forces did not elaborate further on the incident but said the rest of the armed group were pushed back into Syria.

In the last six years of the former Assad regime, Syria's border with Jordan became a main conduit for trade in Captagon, which is sold in pill form and has one of the highest profit margins of any illicit drug.

Jordan's army often reports foiling border infiltration attempts. It has yet to be established whether this incident was related to drug smuggling.

In January, Jordan and Syria agreed to form a joint security committee to secure their border, combat arms and drug smuggling, and co-operate to prevent the resurgence of ISIS.

The foreign ministers of both countries renewed this pledge in April when they agreed to step up joint action against drug smuggling.

Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi of Jordan and his counterpart Asaad Al Shibani said they had agreed to "increase co-operation in the security field", mainly "combatting the smuggling of drugs and weapons", and countering ISIS, which has pockets in eastern Syria.

Jordan is an important ally of the US and has a peace treaty with Israel, while the new government in Syria is tightly controlled by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS). The armed group, headed by Mr Al Shara, was formerly linked with Al Qaeda and has several Jordanian fighters in its command structure.

Though relations between Jordan and Syria have improved in recent months, security incidents along the border have continued.