AMMAN — Jordanian military warplanes struck a convoy of vehicles as they were trying to enter Jordan from Syria, the army said Wednesday, in an unusual move at a time of tensions between the desert kingdom and Damascus. A Syrian military official said the vehicles did not belong to the Syrian army. The Jordanian military statement said the attack happened after "camouflaged" vehicles driving in a rugged area near the border ignored demands to stop from security forces. The statement said Jordanian aircraft fired warning shots at the vehicles, but they did not stop. The warplanes then destroyed the vehicles. The statement did not say how many vehicles were in the convoy, nor did it offer casualty figures. It also did not specify whether the vehicles were targeted on Syrian or Jordanian soil. Jordan's armed forces routinely arrest smugglers trying to cross its desert border with Syria, but Wednesday's strike appeared to be the first time since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011 that Jordan has openly used military aircraft to hit vehicles along the border. Jordan's relations with Syria crumbled after the uprising began in March 2011 to overturn the rule of President Bashar Al-Assad. The desert kingdom is an important conduit for weapons and supplies to reach the rebels, say activists and fighters within Syria. Immediately after news emerged of the airstrikes, a Syrian military official said on state-run TV that no military vehicles had been heading toward the Jordanian border. — AP
