Russian President Vladimir Putin met with King Abdullah the Second of Jordan, for supporting the Astana peace summit that was brokered by Moscow, Ankara and Tehran to bolster a nationwide cessation of hostilities between Syrian rebels and government forces and lay the ground work to re-start a political process that would end the almost 6 year conflict.
“At the beginning of our talks I would like to thank you for your support of a process that we’ve started in the Kazakhstan capital Astana.” / “Thanks to our joint effort the process is developing based on a very important decision that was reached: a ceasefire regime between the (Syrian) governmental forces and armed opposition (groups),” said Putin. / “And again we will work very closely with you as we process to Geneva talks and other talks and the role of Russia can only help advance the challenges because without Russia we will not be able to find solutions not only to the Syrian problem but other regional problems in the Middle East,” said King Abdullah.
Jordan, which borders Syria to the north, Iraq to the east and Israel to the West, has been reinforcing its borders with security personnel and heavy weaponry, in what Jordanian sources said was part of a mechanism that will ensure the security of the Hashemite Kingdom. In a media tour organized by the Jordanian military, tanks and security personnel were seen being deployed to keep a closer eye on the border with its northern neighbor, where the Islamic State is still controlling large swathes of land, a reality which Jordanian officials said was unacceptable, and may lead to a military engagement to clear the extreme Muslim group from that area.
“We reinforce our borders especially in the northern part and the eastern part of the Syrian borders we reinforce by manpower, equipment the whole weapon system we need to make the balance between the security and the fight, the real fight if it is happen in the past we used to deal the threat as security issue now we are talking about both. We might do some security clearness at the borders for the at least 20k for our borders and we might do some engagement with a real engagement with some of our troops deployed over there at the borders,” said Brigadier General Sami Kafawin, Chief of Jordan’s Border Guards.
Jordan currently hosts more than 655,000 registered Syrian refugees, creating a challenge for the Kingdom that numbers only 6.4 million citizens. Nevertheless, with the help of the international community – primarily Western countries – Jordan has established a mechanism to try and help the refugees from its northern neighbor and grants them free medical treatments, among others.
“We are at the Jordanian surgery station and we receive the medical cases and injuries that we receive from the Syrian side. Most of these injuries are first evaluated and later admitted to receive first aid procedures,” said Dr. Mansour Mohammad Mansour, Jordanian Military Doctor.
An Israeli security official told TV7 on condition of anonymity, that the Jewish state is closely monitoring the situation in Jordan, as it considers the stability of the Hashemite Kingdom vital for the security of Israel, and thus there is close cooperation between the security forces of both countries through intelligence sharing, among others.