World
At least 10 civilians dead in suspected Jordanian air raids in Syria
An estimated 10 civilians have been killed in air strikes targeting the neighbouring towns of Arman and Malh in the southeast Syrian province of Sweida, according to local media.
Jordanian forces are believed to be behind Thursday’s attacks, though its government has yet to confirm any involvement.
Sweida 24, a news platform based in its namesake city, said warplanes carried out simultaneous strikes on residential neighbourhoods after midnight local time (21:00 GMT).
The attack in Malh caused material damage to some houses. The second strike in Arman, however, collapsed two houses and killed at least 10 civilians, including four women and two girls, both under the age of five.
Jordan is thought to have carried out previous raids in Syria, mostly near the countries’ shared border, in an effort to disrupt weapons smuggling and drug-trafficking operations.
But inhabitants of the towns struck on Thursday questioned the choice of targets.
“What happened was a massacre against children and women,” Murad al-Abdullah, a resident of Arman, told Al Jazeera. “The air strikes that targeted the villages are far from being identified as fighting drug traffickers.”
Al-Abdullah said the bombing was not limited to houses of people suspected to be involved in drug trafficking. He noted other homes were damaged as well, terrorising villagers while they were asleep and causing needless civilian deaths.
“It is unreasonable for two girls who are no more than five years old to be involved in drug trafficking,” al-Abdullah said.
Tribes and residents of the villages near the Jordanian border issued separate statements this week disavowing any involvement in drug smuggling.
The statements also pledged to lend a hand to Jordan to eliminate criminal networks trafficking narcotics and other drugs across the border. In turn, they asked Jordan to suspend its bombings of civilian sites.
The spiritual leader of the Druze religious group in Syria, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, appealed to Jordan to prevent further civilian bloodshed.
“The attacks should be heavily focused towards the smugglers and their supporters exclusively,” al-Hajri said in a public statement.
Al-Abdullah, the Arman resident, also called on Jordan to collaborate with Syrian locals to stop the trafficking operations.
“We are a society that does not accept the manufacture or trade of drugs, and the Jordanian government should have communicated with our elders to cooperate in combating drug traffickers, instead of bombing residential neighbourhoods,” al-Abdullah said.
Suspected attacks aimed at drug-trafficking operations
Thursday’s attack is believed to be the third time this year that Jordanian planes have carried out air raids on Syrian territory.
A previous attack occurred on January 9, resulting in the deaths of three people in the countryside of Sweida, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based rights monitor.
The Observatory said that five smugglers were also killed in a border attack on January 7. Fighting that day took place sporadically over 10 hours.
By the end of the raid, Jordanian forces had arrested 15 suspects. They also claimed to have recovered 627,000 pills of Captagon, an illicitly manufactured amphetamine, and 3.4kg of cannabis.
“What Jordan is doing can certainly delay drug-smuggling operations but unfortunately, cannot stop them completely. The border with Syria is 375km (233 miles) long, and smuggling operations are carried out by professional groups, not some random individuals carrying out bags of drugs to cross the border,” said Essam al-Zoubi, a lawyer and human rights activist.
Drug enforcement officials in the United States and other Western countries have said that war-torn Syria has become a major hub in the Middle East for the drug trade.
The country, for instance, has become the primary manufacturer for Captagon, a multibillion-dollar business. Experts have said smugglers are using Jordan as a route through which Syrian drugs can reach the oil-rich Gulf states.
Al-Zoubi and other human rights advocates have warned the Syrian government itself is involved in the drug trade, in an effort to shore up its war-drained finances.
Reports indicated that the Fourth Armoured Division of the Syrian Army has played a role in overseeing the country’s drug operations, alongside the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, an ally of the Syrian government.
“The officials responsible for drug smuggling in Syria are Hezbollah of Lebanon, the Fourth Division, and the security apparatuses of the Syrian regime that control southern Syria,” al-Zoubi said.
Jordan and its allies have also taken other approaches to stopping the drug trade.
In March last year, for instance, the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on six people, including two relatives of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, for their role in producing and trafficking Captagon. Some of those sanctioned had ties to Hezbollah as well.
But al-Zoubi warns that even targeted attacks on Syrian drug dealers will not be enough to stop the trade.
“It does not matter to the drug officials from Hezbollah or the Fourth Division if traders are killed, as the trades themselves will continue regardless of the people,” al-Zoubi said, pointing to an example in May 2023.
Jordanian planes, at the time, had carried out air raids in the Sweida countryside, targeting the house of one of the most famous drug traffickers in Syria, Marai al-Ramthan. He was ultimately killed in the attack.
But, al-Zoubi said, his death “did not limit drug trafficking but, in fact, increased it”. Other smugglers used his demise as an opportunity to expand their trade in his absence.
Omar Idlibi, director of the Doha office at the Harmoon Center for Contemporary Studies, said that geopolitical turmoil in the region has also allowed trafficking to flourish.
“Drug-smuggling operations to Jordan did not exist before 2018, that is, before the Syrian regime and its Iranian allies regained control of southern Syria from the opposition factions,” he told Al Jazeera.
Idlibi explained that the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has had a direct effect on the expanding drug operations.
As it focused on Ukraine, Russia withdrew some of its troops in Syria, allowing Iranian militias and Hezbollah forces to spread. Those groups then turned some of the Syrian army’s headquarters into logistical centres for the manufacture, transport and smuggling of drugs to Jordan.
Russia’s need for military equipment from Iran also prompted it to turn a blind eye to the drug-smuggling activity in Syria, Idlibi explained.
“Everyone knows that the Syrian regime and Iran are behind the terrorist activity on the Syrian-Jordanian border, and unless it is terminated from the source, it will continue at different rates,” Idlibi said.
World
War breaking news. Israel: two senior Hamas figures hit in northern Gaza. Iran, Trump: ‘No one will control the Strait of Hormuz’
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the Pasdaran, claim that 25 ships have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the last 24 hours
World
US ally pledges support for Trump’s push to break Iran’s grip on Hormuz: ‘We are ready to contribute’
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UNITED NATIONS — The Czech Republic is prepared to help protect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and is aligning closely with the Trump administration on security, NATO and Israel, Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka told Fox News Digital during an exclusive interview at the United Nations in New York.
Prague already had begun discussions about contributing specialized capabilities to help secure the strategically vital waterway amid growing tensions with Iran, Macinka said while speaking at Security Council-related meetings at the U.N.
“We are ready to contribute to freedom of passage and the Hormuz trade,” Macinka said.
“We were among the first countries that were ready to contribute … We have no navy, as we are in the middle of Europe,” he explained, “But we have some unique passive surveillance capabilities.”
TRUMP SEEKS WARSHIPS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO HELP SECURE STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Czech Republic Foreign Minister Petr Macinka arrives at the 135th Session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at the Palace of the Republic in Chisinau, Moldova, May 15, 2026. (Vladislav Culiomza/Reuters)
Macinka warned that Iran posed a global threat through what he described as four main “war tools”: nuclear proliferation, drones and ballistic missiles, international terrorism and threats to the Strait of Hormuz.
“Their nuclear military program must be stopped,” he said. “It’s a global risk and global threat.”
The comments come as the Trump administration has increased pressure on European allies to take a larger role in protecting international shipping routes amid Iranian threats tied to the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil transit choke points. Roughly one-fifth of global oil consumption passes through the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea.
Speaking after a meeting with foreign ministers in Sweden Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio questioned the value of hosting U.S. military bases in allied countries that later restrict American military operations during wartime.
“One of the arguments I always made was that these bases in the region provided us with logistical options that we wouldn’t otherwise have,” Rubio told reporters. “And when some of those bases are denied to you during a conflict that we’re involved in, then you question whether that value is still there.”
President Donald Trump also has sharply criticized NATO allies over a reluctance to participate in military operations tied to the Iran conflict and securing the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said he was “strongly considering” pulling the United States out of NATO after allies failed to join the U.S. campaign against Iran, according to an April 1 interview with Britain’s Daily Telegraph, calling the alliance a “paper tiger.”
Vessels of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps are seen during a ceremony marking the National Persian Gulf Day at the Persian Gulf near Bushehr, Iran, April 29, 2024. The National Persian Gulf Day marks the anniversary of the expulsion of Portuguese military forces from the Strait of Hormuz in 1622. (Shadati/Xinhua via Getty Images)
The Czech Republic, a NATO member since 1999, reached NATO’s benchmark of spending 2% of GDP on defense and has supported calls for Europe to increase military readiness amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Macinka strongly defended the administration’s calls for Europe to increase defense spending and reduce dependence on Washington for long-term security guarantees.
“We should do our homework and build our defense to become stronger,” he said, arguing that Europe had delayed necessary military investments for too long.
He also tied Europe’s defense spending challenges to the European Union’s Green Deal policies, the bloc’s sweeping climate agenda aimed at reducing carbon emissions, calling them ideological and financially destructive.
“If we get rid of this green, crazy alarmism, then we have enough money to build our defense,” he said.
The Czech foreign minister also voiced unusually direct support for Trump and his administration, praising what he described as a global “common sense” shift following Trump’s election victory.
“We are friends of Israel, and we are friends of America,” Macinka said. “Especially me as a politician, I’m a friend of the ideology of the current American administration.”
Macinka also referenced a clash earlier in 2026 with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Munich Security Conference, where he criticized Europe’s liberal political establishment and defended the populist wave reshaping parts of Europe and the United States.
EUROPE MUST LEAD ON UKRAINIAN SECURITY GUARANTEES, GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS: ‘WE ARE THE NEIGHBORS’
A tanker sits at the Port of Fujairah, as the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran limits marine traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. (REUTERS / Amr Alfiky / File Photo)
Macinka linked Prague’s strong support for Ukraine to the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, when hundreds of thousands of Warsaw Pact troops occupied the country for more than two decades.
He said that historical experience continues to shape Czech public opinion and support for Kyiv.
“The Czech society feels a big solidarity with Ukraine,” Macinka said, describing the war as a “symmetric war” between a powerful Russian military and a Ukrainian army backed by the West.
Macinka highlighted Prague’s leading role in a Czech-backed ammunition initiative supplying Ukraine with artillery rounds collected through international donor efforts.
Recalling a visit to Kyiv earlier in 2026, he said he received intelligence briefings on battlefield ammunition consumption from Ukrainian military officials.
TRUMP, ZELENSKYY TO MEET FOR KEY DEAL AS NATO ALLIES, RUSSIA WAIT, WATCH
Naval units from Iran and Russia simulate the rescue of a hijacked vessel during joint drills at the Port of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan, Iran, on Feb. 19, 2026. (Iranian Army/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Czech initiative delivered more than half a million rounds of ammunition in 2026 alone, according to Macinka, helping stabilize the battlefield ahead of possible peace negotiations.
Macinka argued that maintaining a stable front is essential for meaningful negotiations, warning that shifting battle lines will only harden demands on both sides.
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Newly recruited soldiers of Ukraine’s 159th Separate Mechanized Brigade participate in integration and advanced training exercises in Kharkiv Oblast on May 14, 2026, after completing basic military training. (Yevhen Titov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
With Washington increasingly focused on the Middle East, Macinka also said Europe must begin taking a larger diplomatic role in future negotiations over Ukraine.
“America is quite busy with the Middle East,” he said. “Europe should wake up and ask for a place at the table.”
The seven Lao nationals had entered the cave in Xaisomboun province last week before heavy rain and a landslide blocked their exit.
Published On 27 May 2026
Rescue teams have recovered five of seven villagers who had been trapped for more than a week in a flooded cave in central Laos.
The quintet was found alive on Wednesday. Lao and Thai teams said that they were continuing the search for two others who remain missing.
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“We’ve found 5 people alive and all safe. There are still 2 people we are searching for,” a Laotian volunteer rescue group said in a social media post.
“At 4:30 pm [09:30 GMT], we found our target. We found five people. We are looking for the other two,” added Thai rescuer Kengkach Bangkawong in a separate post.
Thai volunteer rescuer Chakrakrit Taengtung posted a video on social media showing him and the five rescued villagers all cheering.
The video suggested that they were in good health and good spirits as they raised their arms in the air and smiled.
The seven Lao nationals entered the cave in Xaisomboun province last week. Shortly afterwards, heavy rain and a landslide blocked their exit, according to a local volunteer group and state-run Lao Phattana News.
A Thai volunteer group joined the rescue operation on Sunday. The team included a diver who took part in the 2018 rescue of 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand, an operation that drew global attention and involved divers from across the globe.
Videos shared online showed that reaching the cave’s entrance required a steep hike of roughly 4 kilometres (2.5 miles). The entrance is also steep and rocky, and barely wide enough for a single person to climb through.
There has been no official confirmation on why the villagers went into the cave. However, rescuer Bounkham Luanglath, from the Lao organisation Rescue Volunteer for People, said the cave was frequented by local residents looking for gold, even though authorities had repeatedly warned of safety concerns.
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