ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Authorities in Syria’s southern Druze-majority Suwayda on Sunday condemned the Jordanian airstrikes on the province as having been carried out “without prior coordination,” denying claims that the region is a hub for drugs or weapons. 

In a statement, the Druze National Guard in Suwayda said the strikes on the Jabal Bashan area caused “panic and chaos among civilians, especially women and children” in border villages. 

The Jordanian army on Sunday carried out strikes on a drugs and weapons storage facility in Suwayda. The strikes come as Damascus and Amman frequently coordinate to fight drug smuggling on their shared border.

The Druze National Guard statement further categorically rejected accusations that Suwayda is involved in drug production, calling such claims “a distortion of reality.”

It said drug manufacturing is concentrated in areas under the control of Damascus and cross-border networks, adding the province lacks the capacity to produce such materials.

The Druze authorities urged a “transparent investigation and compensation for affected civilians.” 

The Jordanian armed forces said they had “targeted sites of arms and drug traffickers along the northern border” in an operation aimed at preventing smuggling into the country.

It said the strikes focused on “factories, facilities and warehouses” used by traffickers and were carried out with “the highest levels of precision based on intelligence and operational information.”

The military added that it would continue to take “preemptive, decisive and deterrent measures against any threats to Jordan’s security and sovereignty.”

Despite its criticism, the Suwayda command said it remains ready to cooperate with Jordan to combat drug smuggling, describing narcotics as “a crime against humanity.”

It also called on regional and international actors to target major trafficking networks and press Damascus to curb drug production.