Jordan: Syrian army shoots dead Syrian refugee boy

AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan says the Syrian army shot dead a three-year-old Syrian boy while firing at his parents and a dozen other refugees as they tried to cross a Jordanian border fence.

Information Minister Sameeh Maaytah says Bilal El-Labloubi died instantly of a bullet wound in his neck.

A border official says two people managed to sneak in, while about 10 others ran back into Syria under heavy Syrian gunfire. It was not immediately clear if the two were the boy’s parents.

Maaytah says there was no cross border fire.

He says the early Friday incident took place in Turra, a northern town near Ramtha on the Syrian border.

Jordan hosts more than 140,000 Syrian refugees.

The border official insisted on anonymity because he was not allowed to make press statements.