AMMAN, Dec 25: Jordan launched a series of airstrikes late on Wednesday in Syria’s southern Sweida province, targeting suspected drug smuggling networks and storage facilities near the Jordanian border, according to Syrian media and a monitoring group.

Syrian state television, Ikhbariya TV, reported that the strikes hit several drug storage sites as well as a weapons facility operated by armed smuggling groups. The channel added that a former Syrian army post, which had recently been converted into a narcotics storage site, was also destroyed in the raids.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said multiple airstrikes were carried out in border areas and noted heightened military aircraft activity in the region during the operation.

The Jordanian Armed Forces confirmed the operation in a statement, saying they had “neutralized a number of arms and drug traffickers along the northern border of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.” The military added that several factories and workshops used by smuggling groups as hideouts and operational bases for cross-border trafficking into Jordan were targeted, without disclosing specific locations.

Jordan has stepped up military operations along its northern border in recent years, frequently using drones, citing an escalating threat posed by organized drug and weapons trafficking networks operating across the border.