Jordan protests Syria shelling on border

Jordan's government spokesman has sternly criticized Syria for artillery shelling on its northern border that wounded a Jordanian girl and panicked other civilians.

Sameeh Maaytah said the government summoned the Syrian ambassador in Amman to hand him a letter of protest late Sunday.

Amman is awaiting a formal response from Syria, which has yet to comment.

Four shells landed in Jordan on Sunday during clashes between the Syrian military and rebel forces on the Syrian side of the border.

Maaytah said Jordan protests what took place and "will ensure this does not happen again."

The shelling sent four other Jordanians to hospital suffering from panic attacks. They were later discharged. The wounded girl was in fair condition on Monday.

Elsewhere on Monday Jordanian officials said they were investigating the death of a Syrian refugee who died in a fire in Jordan's first refugee camp – the first such incident at the tent city.

The man, who was not identified, died on Monday morning after a fire broke out in one of the tents inside the Zaatari camp, the official Petra news agency reported. It cited a press statement issued by Jordan's General Security Directorate.

The statement said a police probe was underway to determine the circumstances of the man's death.

No other details were immediately available.

Jordan hosts the largest number of displaced Syrians, with more than 150,000 sheltering in the country.

Some 7,000 are located in the Zaatari camp near the northern border with Syria.

(AP, Al-Akhbar)