Army and security chiefs from Jordan and Syria met on Sunday to curb a growing drug trade along their mutual border that has seen deadly skirmishes, blamed mainly on pro-Iranian militias who hold sway in southern Syria.

The meeting comes after Syria's neighbours got a pledge from Damascus during a meeting last May in Amman to cooperate with their efforts to rein in Syria's flourishing drug trade in exchange for helping end its pariah status after a brutal crackdown of peaceful protesters during the civil war.

The talks headed by Jordanian army head Lieutenant General Yousef Hunaiti and Syrian Defence Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas in the presence of both countries' intelligence chiefs also tackled the threat drugs posed to regional stability, a Jordanian foreign ministry statement said.

"The meeting discussed cooperation in confronting th...