ammonnews.net

Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordan's military-run State Security Court on Monday decided to imprison ten "jihadists" for two years and a half each after they tried to enter Syria and join radical groups, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

"The convicts were charged with seeking to do forbidden acts," the court said in the statement.

It added that the convicts wanted to join Syrian Islamist militia groups like al-Nusra Front and Daash.

They were arrested at the borders as they were trying to enter Syrian territory, the report said.

Since the start of the unrest in Syria in early 2011, scores of Jordanians have tried to enter the country to join the rebels, who are fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Last September, Jordan court sentenced five members of the Salafi Jihadi Movement to a five-year imprisonment for attempting to sneak past Jordanian border guards and enter into Syria to join the rebel forces.

The situation at the Jordanian-Syrian border is tense, with increased reports of Jordanian soldiers clashing with suspected armed militants and smugglers from Syria.

Two weeks ago, Jordan for the first time struck armored vehicles belonging to suspected militants at its border using its national air force units, a move that may signal the clashes in the border region are escalating.

*Xinhua