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Jordan has struck what its military says were "terrorist organisations" in Syria in retaliation for an attack on a Christian funeral last week that killed nine people.

Syrian health officials told state media that five people, including women, children and an elderly man, were killed in the strike on a village in the southern Daraa province. Jordan said its fighter jets had killed and wounded "several terrorists", without giving further details.

Jordan said it had co-ordinated with the Syrian government, but Syria said it had not been notified of Monday's attack.

It comes after nine people were killed and 34 injured in a shooting at a funeral in a Greek Orthodox church in Karak on Friday.

In response to the strike, Syria said it had closed a border crossing with Jordan.

"The decision includes the complete suspension of passenger and commercial traffic in both directions, to ensure the safety of travellers and workers at the crossing," Syrian authorities said in a statement carried by state media.

It added that it had "opened direct channels of communication" with Jordanian officials and had launched "comprehensive investigations to establish the full circumstances of the targeting".

Nassib is the only passenger and commercial border crossing between Jordan and Syria.

Earlier on Monday, senior government security officials said Jordanian security forces had arrested two brothers and their brother-in-law over the church attack.

The Public Security Directorate (PSD) said the unnamed "terrorists" were found hiding in an abandoned house in Karak before dawn.

Jordan's Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya told state-affiliated TV the attackers were all Jordanians and "had been holed up in a building in one of the villages near the site of the attack".

 

SOURCE/AUTHOR : BBC NEWS/Toby Mann