Jordan launches airstrikes in Syria
Jordan: Strikes aimed at militants tied to church attack; Syria says civilians killed
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Jordan carried out airstrikes against armed groups in Syria in retaliation for Friday's attack on a Greek Orthodox Church in the southern Jordanian city of Karak that killed nine people, the Jordanian air force said in a statement.
It said the operation "resulted in the killing and wounding of many members of these terrorist groups and the destruction of a number of their vehicles." It did not specify who the groups were or the precise location of the strikes.
The operation sparked an outcry in Syria, where officials said the Jordanian operation killed several civilians and was carried out without notifying Syrian authorities.
Syria's civil defense agency said it had recovered the bodies of seven people killed in strikes in the southern Daraa and Sweida provinces. Five members of one family, including three children and a woman were killed together in a strike that hit a tent in rural Daraa province and three other family members were injured, it said. An 80-year-old man and a 60-year-old man were killed in separate strikes, it said.
The Syrian government said the Jordanian operation took place "without prior coordination or notification with the Syrian side." It said Syrian authorities were investigating the circumstances of the incident and had opened communication channels with Jordan to discuss the situation.
Syria's General Authority for Ports and Customs later announced the closure of Syria's main border crossing with Jordan.