Jordan Closes Syria Border Crossing after Clashes

Jordan closed on Monday its main border crossing with Syria, Jaber, after two days of fighting there between Syrian army and militants.

“The border post is effectively closed because there have been clashes since yesterday and they are continuing,” Jordan’s information minister Samih Maaytah told Reuters.

Border traders said passengers were turned back at the Jordanian border crossing of Jaber and prevented from entering.

This is the first time Amman closes a border crossing since unrest erupted in neighboring Syria in March 2011.

Earlier last month media reports said that United States and its Western allies has been using its soil for training the militants fighting against the Syrian government and shipping weapons into Syria.

According to a report by the New York Times on March 24, the US spy agency, CIA, has been shipping weapons into Syria via Jordan and Turkey since early 2012.