The checkpoint will reopen when suitable conditions are secured, Ammon news agency noted
The Jordanian authorities have decided to temporarily close the border with Syria due to the deteriorating situation in the town of Deraa, 110km from Damascus. This was reported to Ammon news agency on Saturday by a source within the Kingdom’s Interior Ministry.
“The Nasib-Jaber checkpoint will be temporarily closed to traffic due to events affecting security on the Syrian side of the border”, – he pointed out. According to the source, the crossing “will resume its operation as soon as suitable conditions are ensured”.
The border crossing has not been functioning since last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. On July 27, Mazen Faraya, head of the Kingdom’s Interior Ministry, contacted his Syrian counterpart Mohammed Khaled Rahmon by phone and informed him of the Jordanian authorities’ intention to reopen the Nasib-Jaber crossing. In doing so, he noted that such a move “is in the bilateral interest and will be of mutual benefit.”
The Syrian interior minister welcomed the Jordanian government’s decision to fully reopen the crossing for cargo and passenger traffic and said Damascus was “prepared to take all necessary measures to reopen the crossing as soon as possible.” However, on 28 July, gangs controlling the Deraa al-Balad region violated the terms of the 2018 reconciliation agreement and attacked Syrian army posts in the southern Arab republic, capturing at least 25 soldiers. The army responded by blockading Deraa al-Balad, demanding that the militants involved in the attacks on government forces’ positions be handed over.
The fighting in Deraa province has left at least 2,500 people displaced in three days, according to the UN. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has recorded the deat3hs of eight civilians, including a woman and four children, while six others were wounded.
Rear Admiral Vadim Kully, deputy head of the Russian Centre for the Reconciliation of the Hostile Parties in Syria, said on Friday that the Syrian military had managed to stabilise the situation in the border region and restore the ceasefire.