Firefight on Jordan’s border with Syria tied to Hezbollah arms supply

▶ Smugglers involved in Monday’s incursion worked with pro-Iran militia, sources say

A drug war on Jordan’s border with Syria has intensified after hundreds of smugglers and militants carrying narcotics and weapons tried this week to overrun the kingdom’s defences.

Monday’s attack by 220 gunmen was remarkable for its size, the smugglers’ possession of advanced weapons, and the direct participation of a militia linked to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, security officials and members of the Syrian opposition to President Bashar Al Assad told The National.

The militia, comprising Bedouin from southern Syria, provided heavy machinegun cover for smugglers in lorries, who carried drugs, anti-personnel mines, thermal mine detectors, explosives and anti-tank missiles, the sources said.

A European security official said the weapons were probably intended for delivery to smugglers in Jordan to be used against the military or during attacks on neighbouring Israel.

The Jordanian army said the operation, during which nine smugglers were arrested and several Jordanian soldiers were wounded, was an attack on “national security”.

The security sources said the battle had taken place in Wadi Al Samman, south-east of the Syrian city of Suweida, on the border with Jordan’s Mafraq province.

They said the militia, led by Khalaf Al Jumaili, was formed by Hezbollah to protect supplies of hashish from Lebanon and Captagon pills produced in Syria.

Jordan responded with intense air strikes hitting seven targets, including warehouses and farms, in Syria’s Suweida and Deraa provinces.

Hezbollah has previously denied any role in the drug trade, which has also affected Saudi Arabia, its most lucrative market.

Since the Israel-Gaza war started on October 7, Jordan’s military has stationed more rapid response units at the border with Syria, a European official told The National.

Their purpose is to prevent Iran-backed paramilitaries from entering the kingdom and supplying weapons to Jordanian militants for use against Israel.

“One of the shortest ways to reach Israel from Syria is through Jordan,” the official said. “I think the Jordanians are aware that Iran might have become keen to build up capabilities in Jordan.”

An Arab security official said Monday’s attack showed that the “rules have changed” on the Jordan-Syria border.

He said armed groups supported by Iran have gone from providing supervision and reconnaissance to smugglers, to engaging in active combat.

Hezbollah moved to areas close to the border with Jordan after Russia, the US and Israel in 2018 agreed that control over the regions would be transferred from anti-Assad rebels to the Syrian military.

The deal was an effort to realign zones of control in Syria after Russia intervened in 2015.

Since 2018, Syria’s border with Jordan has become an important drug trafficking route.