Jordan witnesses rise in smuggling arms into Syria

Jordan is witnessing a rise in attempts to smuggle arms into Syria to be used by anti-government armed terrorist groups in that country. According to Jordanian security officials, smugglers are using the kingdom as a "transit point" to supply weapons from Saudi Arabia to rebels in the Syrian restive city of Dara’a, located in the south of Damascus, dpa reported on Thursday. 

"We are witnessing more attempts to smuggle weapons into Syria and also attempts to smuggle weapons into Jordan from neighboring countries that we believe are destined for Syria," a security source said condition of anonymity. The presence of an illicit arms trade was confirmed by Jordan’s Public Security Department on Wednesday, acknowledging that it has thwarted "several" illegal attempts by various groups to smuggle armaments into Syria. Hussein Majali, the chief of the security department stated that Jordanian authorities are taking all measures to protect Jordanian-Syrian shared borders and stressed that his country does not interfere in Syrian internal affairs. Syria has been experiencing unrest, reportedly sponsored by Western governments and their Arab allies, since mid-March 2011.

The West and the Syrian opposition blame Damascus for the year-long turmoil, but the government says “terrorists” are responsible for the unrest, which it says is being orchestrated from abroad. The Syrian president said on February 20 that “some foreign countries” are fueling the turmoil in Syria by supporting and funding “armed terrorist groups fighting against the government.”