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Jordan temporarily closes main border crossing with Syria

Xinhua, April 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Jordan closed its main crossing border with Syria for passengers and goods temporarily, the state-run Petra news agency reported on Wednesday.

Jordanian Interior Minister Hussein Majali said the closure of the crossing seeks to preserve the safety of passengers amidst ongoing violence at the Nasib town in Daraa at the Syrian side of the border.

It is the first time that Jordan officially announced closure of border crossing with Syria since the start of the unrest in Syria in 2011, amidst Jordanian lawmakers' repeatedly call for closing the borders with Syria due to an increasing influx of Syrian refugees in the kingdom which hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees now.

For its part, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said Jordan closed the Nasib border crossing from its side, holding Amman responsible for disrupting the transportation of passengers and cargo convoys between both countries and the economic and social repercussions of such decision.

The closure of the border crossing from the Jordanian side apparently follows intense battles that broke out early Wednesday between assorted rebel groups and the Syrian government troops in the vicinity of the crossing.

The Nasib crossing is the last remaining border crossing between Syria and Jordan, after the rebel groups in Syria controlled other border points throughout Syria's four-year-old crisis.

It was also one of the busiest border crossings in Syria and is situated on the Damascus-Amman international highway.

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Nasib is the last official crossing under the Syrian government control after the al-Qaida-liked Nusra Front and likeminded groups captured the al-Jumruk crossing in October 2013, adding that the rebel groups succeeded to attack the area of the crossing and surrounded it.

The borderline with Jordan has witnessed several battles in the past four years, where the rebel groups succeeded to control the entire line except for the Nasib crossing, whose falling would deprive the government troops from any access to the Jordanian borders. Endit