Jordan army strikes, seizes Syrian vehicles carrying weapons

Jordan's border guards on Sunday open fired at two vehicles and seized three others purportedly carrying weapons and ammunition as they tried to cross into Jordan from Syria, the state-run Petra news agency reported. A source at the armed forces general command headquarters said troops opened fire at the two vehicles whose drivers ignored orders from the border forces to stop and confiscated three other vehicles whose drivers heeded the warnings. No casualties or injuries were reported at the time of publication. The army maintained they dealt with the incident "according to the rules of engagement." The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said that the border guards later found that the vehicles were loaded with weapons and various types of ammunition. Over the past few months, reports have emerged saying that several radical and armed groups have been trying to enter Jordan illegally, with many of them carrying weapons in an attempt to smuggle large quantities inside the kingdom. The source added that the border guards had received 1,625 Syrian refugees who made it into the kingdom via illegal crossing points over the past 72 hours. The new arrivals were mainly children, women and elderly people, who were escorted to refugee camps. Jordan is hosting over 640,000 Syrian refugees who had fled the three-year-old conflict in Syria.