Jordan strikes Syria after church attack, civilian toll disputed

Jordanian jets struck positions in southern Syria late on Monday in retaliation for Friday's attack on a church funeral in Jordan, and the two governments disagree in public about the strikes, with Jordan saying they were coordinated with Damascus, Syria saying they were not, and the civilian toll reported at five by a Daraa health official and at eight in Damascus's later account.

Why it matters: A retaliation strike against militants has become a public dispute between the two governments over coordination and civilian deaths, while Syria says it is investigating and has called for joint military and security coordination in the border area.

Data as of Correction, October 26, 2026, 20:29 ET: the first version of this item rested on the ERT News report alone, the only full text then read. Fuller reads of the Arab News and Deutsche Welle reports, completed after publication, change three points, now corrected in the text. The Daraa health director, quoted by Syria's state news agency SANA, put the civilian toll at five, including women and children, as Deutsche Welle reported via Reuters and as Arab News's own summary also states; the figure of eight, including three children, is Damascus's later account in the Arab News report's headline and body, and in ERT's report. Jordan's armed forces said the strikes were carried out in coordination with Damascus, the opposite of the Syrian account, and that claim is now in the text. The Nasib border crossing closure appeared only in the ERT report and in no other reporting read; it is now carried as ERT's report alone. Church funeral attack injury counts also differ between reports (34 in ERT, 40 in Deutsche Welle) and are no longer stated. Both governments' accounts are attributed, and neither side's toll or coordination claim is independently verified here. Grade C. Developing item.

Jordan said late on Monday that its fighter jets struck terrorist hideouts in southern Syria, destroying structures and vehicles and killing or wounding members of groups it links to Friday’s attack on a funeral at Hamoud Church in Jordan’s Karak governorate, which killed nine people. Jordan’s armed forces said the strikes were carried out in coordination with Damascus, and Jordanian security forces had earlier on Monday arrested three men in connection with the church attack after a dawn shootout in Karak, Deutsche Welle reported.

Syria’s account differs on both coordination and casualties. Arab News reported that Damascus said the attacks were carried out without prior coordination, and the Daraa health director, quoted by the state news agency SANA, said civilians were caught in strikes on several sites in the province’s countryside. That official’s toll, carried by Deutsche Welle via Reuters and in Arab News’s summary, was five civilians killed, including women and children; Damascus’s later account, in the Arab News report’s headline and body and in ERT’s reporting, put the toll at eight, including three children. Syria said it was investigating, was communicating with Jordan, and called for joint military and security coordination in border areas. ERT News also reported that Syria closed the Nasib border crossing with Jordan after the strikes; no other report read in this run carries a closure.

Jordan strikes Syria after church attack, civilian toll disputed

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