Government close to seizing Jordan border crossing

Government forces in south Syria are advancing along the frontier with Jordan and will soon reach a border crossing in rebel hands, a pro-Damascus commander said yesterday.

Several witnesses along the Jordan border fence with Syria said they spotted armoured vehicles and a tank with a Russian flag heading towards the Nassib crossing.

A war monitor said troops in Dara’a province reached the frontier on Thursday for the first time since 2015, part of a major offensive to recover the entire southwest from rebels.

Jordan, meanwhile, has sent reinforcements to the border crossing. The army, which had deployed more armoured vehicles in the area, has set in motion “contingency plans to face any eventuality” as the Syrian government offensive closes in on the Nassib crossing, diplomatic sources said.

Reopening the crossing, a vital trade artery which has been in rebel hands since 2015, is a major objective of the Syrian government campaign that aims to recover the entire southwestern corner of Syria from rebels.

But Jordan, a staunch ally of the United States, wants first to make sure that Al Assad’s Russian allies play a central role in stabilising southern Syria, fearing that any upheaval there will affect its own security, officials in Jordan said.

Jordan has always taken a cautious approach to the Syrian conflict that spiralled out of street protests against Al Assad’s rule in 2011. Witnesses said military vehicles flying Russian flags were spotted near the Nassib crossing yesterday.