6 hurt in Jordan town as shell from Syria hits home

Incident isn’t the first time ordnance from battles raging across the border lands in Ramtha

By AP 14 August 2015, 8:55 am

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File: In this Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012 photo, newly-arrived Syrian refugee families receive food from the Jordanian military after they crossed the border from Tal Shehab in Syria, through the Al Yarmouk River valley, into Thnebeh town, in Ramtha, Jordan. (AP/Mohammed Hannon)

AMMAN, Jordan — State media say an illuminating shell fired from Syria hit a home in a Jordanian border town injuring six people.

The Petra news agency says the shell struck a home in the town of Ramtha, north of the capital Amman, on Thursday evening. It says five people were lightly hurt and one was in moderate condition.

Petra says the shell was fired as part of clashes on the Syrian side of the border. Ramtha lies across the border from the Syrian town of Tal Shehab.

The conflict in Syria erupted in 2011 and quickly turned into a civil war between forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and rebels trying to topple him. The UN says at least 250,000 people have died in the conflict. Millions of refugees fled the country to neighboring states, including Jordan.

Shells from Syria have hit Ramtha in the past. The town has also absorbed large numbers of refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict, and is home to the King Abdullah Park for Syrian Refugees.