Syrian mortar shells sow fear in Jordan border town
Many residents of Ramtha, northern Jordan, are calling for military action to contain the violence in Syria that is spilling over onto their city, where mortars fall on houses and parents are afraid to send their children to school.
RAMTHA, Jordan — University student Bashar Makhadmeh was sitting outside with his family on the evening of Aug. 13 when suddenly a Syrian mortar crashed to the ground right beside him. “Glass was flying everywhere. Then I saw blood coming from my legs and back before I lost consciousness,” Makhadmeh told Al-Monitor from Ramtha’s King Abdullah University Hospital. The mortar strike cut Makhadmeh’s Achilles tendon and injured five other members of his family, focusing Jordanian public attention to the hardships faced by Ramtha residents who suffer from repeated and indiscriminate Syrian mortar attacks.
Approximately 90 kilometers (56 miles) north from Amman, Ramtha borders Syria. The city is home to more than 100,000 inhabitants.
“We don’t feel safe any time because a mortar can fall on any home,” exclaimed Ramtha resident Majd Abu-Sheikh to Al-Monitor. “We can’t protect ourselves.”
Over the last two months, 28 Syrian mortar shells have hit Ramtha— almost half the total of 58 that have fallen on Jordan since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011.
