Army chief orders use of ‘all possible force’ to protect border

AMMAN — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Gen. Mashal Al Zaben on Monday checked on the readiness of  army units deployed at the Jaber border crossing with Syria.

Zaben, who is also His Majesty King Abdullah's military adviser, also checked on the measures in place to thwart any cross-boder infiltration and smuggling attempts, according to an army statement.

In the statement, a copy of which was made available to The Jordan Times, Zaben called on  army units deployed at the Jordanian-Syrian border to be strict and decisive in the face of any attempts to violate the Kingdom's sovereignty, commanding them also to deploy any magnitude of forces and the most powerful weaponry for that purpose.

Authorities last Wednesday closed the Jaber border crossing due to security reasons following military escalation in Syria's Nasib region between the regime's forces and the opposition.

Syria's Nasib border crossing with Jordan is reported  to be now under the control of the moderate Free Syrian Army.

On Sunday, Interior Minister Hussein Majali told lawmakers that Jordan is ready to act even outside its territory in case of a possible external security threat.

His remarks came during Sunday's Lower House session in response to MPs' questions on the security situation at the Jaber border crossing with Syria following the Syrian opposition's control of Nasib crossing on the Syrian side.