Syria's defense chief meets Jordan's army commander in Amman

Syria’s defense minister met Sunday with Jordan's army chief in Amman after after Syrian troops captured several rebel-held areas near Jordan’s border, state media reported.

The Hala Akhbar news site, which is linked to Jordan’s military, reported that the meeting between Jordanian Gen. Yousef Huneiti and Syrian Gen. Ali Habib was “to increase coordination in the field of border security to serve the interests of the two brotherly countries.”

The recent push by Syrian troops in the country’s south is the biggest since government forces captured wide areas along the border in 2018, including the Nassib border crossing.

The crossing with Jordan was reopened in 2018, months after it fell under Syrian government control. Syrian rebels had seized the site in 2015, severing a lifeline for the government in Damascus and disrupting a major trade route linking Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the oil-rich Gulf countries.

Habib’s visit came nearly two weeks after Syrian forces entered the rebel-held district of the volatile southern city of Daraa as part of a truce negotiated by Russia to end weeks of fighting. In the days that followed, Syrian troops captured rebel-held parts of several villages near Daraa.

The latest push by Syrian troops brings all parts of southern Syria under full government control.

Petra, Jordan’s state news agency, said Huneiti and Habib discussed border security, the situation in southern Syria, fighting terrorism and confronting narcotics smuggling.

Syrian state TV said the visit came at the invitation of Jordan’s army commander, adding that Habib was accompanied by top army officers. It said the talks focused on “fighting terrorism and border control.”

Jordan is a close Western ally and has long been seen as an island of stability in the turbulent Mideast. The kingdom hosts more than 650,000 Syrian refugees.

Earlier this month, ministers from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt said after meeting in Amman that Egyptian natural gas should reach Lebanon through Jordan and Syria as soon as next month, after maintenance of pipelines and the review of a deal interrupted 10 years ago.