Main Syria-Jordan Crossing Under Insurgent Assault

AMMAN, Jordan — The main border crossing between Syria and Jordan remained closed and chaotic on Friday, with insurgents — including the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, and Western-backed rebel factions — wrangling for control two days after they seized and looted the crucial gateway.

The power struggle at the Nasib crossing, coupled with Syrian government airstrikes that hit nearby on Thursday, is the latest cross-border spillover from Syria’s four-year war, and it has led to new tensions between Jordan and Syria.

Adding to the chaos, at least 10 Lebanese truck drivers were being held by Nusra, Lebanon’s minister for the economy, Alain Hakim, told Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper, and witnesses said as many as 22 were being held either for ransom or as bargaining chips. Jordan’s interior minister, Hussein Majali, said the border would remain closed indefinitely until the authorities could guarantee security there.

The chaos on the border was a blow to Syria’s government, which lost the last crossing it had still controlled along the 230-mile border. But it could also be embarrassing for Jordan, the United States and other allies involved in a covert program to train insurgents who, they insist, are relatively nationalist and moderate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/04/world/middleeast/main-syria-jordan-crossing-under-insurgent-assault.html