Syrian invasion of Jordan
{{Merge to|Black September|date=December 2024}}
{{Short description|Short-lived invasion during Black September}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Syrian invasion of Jordan
| place = Northern Jordan
| image = T-54 tank of the Syrian army during Syrian invasion of Jordan.jpg
| caption = T-54 tank of the Syrian army during invasion.
| date = 18–23 September 1970
| partof = Black September and the Arab Cold War
| result = Jordanian military victory
- Syrian invasion repelled
- Tensions between Jordan and syria
| combatant1 = {{flagcountry|Ba'athist Syria|1963}}
{{flagicon image|Flag of Palestine - short triangle.svg}} PLO{{bulletedlist
| {{flagicon image|Simplified Fatah flag.jpg|size=22px}} Fatah
| {{flagicon|Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine}} Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
| {{flagicon|Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine}} Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)}}
| combatant2 = {{flag|Jordan}}
| strength1 = 16,000 troops
250–300 tanks and armoured vehicles
| casualties2 = 537 killed, 1,500 wounded
75–90 tanks
1+ armored car
| casualties1 = 150 killed and wounded, 200 captured
120 armoured vehicles (62 of them is tanks T-54 and T-55)
| commander1 = {{flagicon|Ba'athist Syria|1963}} Nureddin al-Atassi
{{flagicon|Ba'athist Syria|1963}} Salah Jadid
{{flagicon|Palestine}} Yasser Arafat
| commander2 = {{flagicon|Jordan}} Hussein
{{flagicon|Jordan}} Habis Majali
{{flagicon|Jordan}} Zeid bin Shaker
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Black September}}
| strength2 = 65,000–74,000 troops
500 tanks and armoured vehicles
}}
The Syrian invasion of Jordan began on 18 September 1970 in support of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) amid Black September in Jordan. Ba'athist Syria conducted a short-lived incursion toward Irbid in northern Jordan, before being forced to withdraw due to heavy casualties.{{Cite journal |last=A. Mobley |first=Richard |date=2009 |title=Syria's 1970 invasion of Jordan |url=http://intelros.ru/pdf/jfq_55/25.pdf |journal=U.S. Joint Military Contributions to Countering}}{{Cite journal |last=Ryan |first=Curtis R. |date=2006 |title=The Odd Couple: Ending the Jordanian-Syrian "Cold War" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4330215 |journal=Middle East Journal |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=33–56 |doi=10.3751/60.1.12 |jstor=4330215 |issn=0026-3141}}{{Cite journal |date=1976 |title=Behind the Syrian Invasion |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4364815 |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=11 |issue=30 |pages=1107–1112 |jstor=4364815 |issn=0012-9976}} Syria's supposed aim was to help the Palestinian fedayeen overthrow the Hashemite monarchy.{{Cite book |last=Shlaim |first=Avi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JtrCoUf7wCsC |title=Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace |date=2009-10-06 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-4000-7828-8 |pages=326 |language=en}}
Background
File:Map of Fedayeen concentrations in Jordan in 1970.png
On 17 September 1970, the Jordanian army surrounded several cities with a significant PLO presence and began targeting Palestinian fedayeen, viewing them as a threat to the Hashemite monarchy of King Hussein. Syria publicly threatened King Hussein, with Syrian president Nureddin al-Atassi stating that Syria would "spare no blood" to help the Palestinians. The Syrian foreign ministry warned that the "Syrian revolution cannot remain silent or idle about the massacres to which the Palestine revolution groups and the masses in Jordan are being exposed." The Syrian invasion expressed the ruling Syrian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party's stance against "the reactionary regime" in Jordan and its desire to overthrow it. The Syrian Ba'ath Party adopted strongman Salah Jadid's policy of pushing for military intervention against Jordan on 17 September 1970.{{Cite book |last=Shemesh |first=Moshe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rKwsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA144 |title=The Palestinian Entity 1959-1974: Arab Politics and the PLO |date=2012-11-12 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-28512-7 |pages=144 |language=en}}
The United States, seeing the Syrian incursion through the lens of Cold War politics, prepared to intervene on behalf of Jordan and block Soviet support for Syria.
Invasion
File:Jordanian_soldiers_surrounding_Syrian_tank,_17_September_1970.png in Irbid to face off the Syrian invasion, 17 September 1970]]
On 18 September 1970, a force from Syria with Palestine Liberation Army markings crossed the border into Jordan, reaching Irbid and declaring it a "liberated" city. The 40th Armored Brigade managed to block the Syrian advance after heavy fighting. A second and much larger Syrian incursion took place on the same day, consisting of two armored and one mechanized infantry brigade of the 5th Infantry Division, and around 300 tanks.
On 20 September 1970, Syria committed 16,000 troops and more than 170 T-55 tanks and other armoured vehicles to invade Jordan, but declined to commit its air force. Jordanian forces managed to repel two Syrian armored offensives and inflicted heavy losses on a Syrian armored brigade. Syrian tanks crossed near Ramtha, advancing 5 miles past it, and slowly moved toward Irbid.{{Cite journal |last=A. Mobley |first=Richard |date=2009 |title=Syria's 1970 invasion of Jordan |url=http://intelros.ru/pdf/jfq_55/25.pdf |journal=U.S. Joint Military Contributions to Countering}}
By the morning of 21 September, Syria had the battleground advantage, with almost 300 tanks and 60 artillery tubes near Ramtha and Irbid, some of which had already entered Irbid. Syrian forces later captured two key crossroads that served as gateways to the Jordanian capital, Amman.
By 22 September, however, the Syrian forces had been largely defeated as they attempted to breach Jordanian lines north of the Ajloun mountains. Syrian forces suffered due to Jordanian airstrikes, logistic shortfalls, and mechanical breakdowns. By midday, approximately 50 of 200 Syrian tanks became inoperable. Syrian forces began withdrawing from Jordan on the night of 22–23 September 1970.
Casualties
During the invasion, Syrian tanks inflicted heavy losses on Jordanian army. In one case, a squadron of T-55s stopped the advance of a large Jordanian column, with 19 Centurions destroyed and up to 10 Syrian T-55s lost in the battle.Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948–1991, Kenneth Michael Pollack, Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2002, pp. 337–341 According to Israeli intelligence, Jordan lost 75 to 90 tanks out of 200 involved,{{Cite web |title=Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume XXIV. P.912 |url=https://www.2001-2009.state.gov/documents/organization/113360.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811100748/https://2001-2009.state.gov/documents/organization/113360.pdf |archive-date=11 August 2019 |access-date=10 August 2019}} most to Syrian T-55 fire at ar-Ramtha.{{cite book |last=Pollack |first=Kenneth Michael |title=Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948-1991 |date=2002 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-80323-733-9 |location=Lincoln, Nebraska |pages=337–345}} In turn total Syrian tank losses accounted to 62 T-55 mostly breakdowns left on enemy territory.Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948—1991. Kenneth Michael Pollack. U of Nebraska Press. 2002. P.478 Syria lost 350 soldiers (150 killed and wounded, 200 captured; Other estimates 600 people).{{Cite book |last=Raab |first=David |title=Terror in Black September: The First Eyewitness Account of the Infamous 1970 Hijackings. |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=2007 |page=200}} Jordan losses was 537 soldiers killed and 1500 wounded.{{Cite web |date=2017-10-19 |title=شهداء الواجب |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019145334/https://www.jaf.mil.jo/Contents/Martyr_of_Dutyar.aspx |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=web.archive.org}}