Jordan: Hot Air Balloons Carrying Firearms Seized in Al-Karak to Smuggle Weapons

The Jordanian General Directorate of Public Security announced on Saturday the seizure of automatic firearms and GPS devices that had been smuggled into the kingdom via hot-air balloons and were discovered in the southern governorate of Karak. The Jordanian Press Agency (Petra) quoted a spokesperson for the General Directorate of Public Security as saying that a report was received by the Karak Governorate Police regarding a suspicious bag in an area within the governorate. Security forces immediately moved to the site, cordoned off the area, and experts began examining the bag. The spokesperson clarified that after searching the bag, which had been smuggled in via hot-air balloons, nine automatic firearms and GPS devices were found inside, and they were secured. He stated that preliminary investigations indicated the bag had arrived from the kingdom’s southern border area, carried by the wind, and confirmed that the seized items were secured while investigations continued to uncover the circumstances of the incident. These developments come days after an armed attack on Friday, October 23, 2026, on the St. George Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hamouda in Karak governorate, southern Jordan. Three gunmen opened fire heavily on mourners near the entrance and square before fleeing, killing nine people and injuring 34. Security forces later announced the arrest of the perpetrators. The repercussions extended beyond Jordan’s borders, as the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted airstrikes in the Daraa countryside in southern Syria, targeting what it said were headquarters of the Islamic State group linked to the attackers. Damascus reported that the airstrikes killed seven civilians and injured three.