Jordan foils bid to smuggle arms from Syria

Jordanian border guards have foiled an attempt to smuggle large amounts of weapons and drugs into the kingdom from Syria, the army said Friday. "Forces of the frontier guard yesterday evening (Thursday) seized large quantities of munitions and different types of drugs during an attempt to smuggle them into the kingdom," the army said in a statement. The statement, carried by the official Petra news agency, did not specify the number or types of weaponry seized, or the nationalities and number of smugglers. Government weekly Al-Rai cited border guard chief Hussein Zoyud as saying "a group of men implicated in this arms smuggling attempt were arrested, and an inquiry is now under way". On June 6, Jordanian border guards again intercepted a large haul of weapons being smuggled in from Syria. Jordan has tightened its borders, arresting and imprisoning dozens of jihadists trying to cross into its war-torn neighbour. Amman denies accusations by the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that it has opened up its borders to jihadist fighters.