Jordanian policeman killed over fuel prices

• A senior officer was murdered in skirmishes with protesters in Maan, Jordan.
• There were protests over high fuel prices.
• Police said the officer was shot in the head late Thursday.

Police and witnesses said a senior officer was murdered in skirmishes with protesters in Maan, Jordan, during protests over high fuel prices.

Police said the officer was shot in the head late Thursday while dealing with “rioting” by outlaws in a city that has seen civic upheaval over fuel price hikes and subsidy cuts.

“We shall strike with an iron fist,” said the police statement.

Unknown assailants shot the officer amid fighting in Husseiniya, Maan, according to a police source. The source added four more officers were hurt.

A big convoy of armored vehicles entered Maan as reinforcements were sent to the officer’s neighborhood.

Witnesses reported youths battled with police in various neighborhoods including in Zarqa, northeast of Amman.

Anti-riot police used tear gas to disperse protesters in Zarqa’s Jabal al-Abyad neighborhood.

Dozens of adolescents also protested in the capital’s Tafiyla neighborhood, as police chased anti-government activists.

Youths burnt tires on a roadway between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, witnesses reported.

In Irbid, Jordan’s third-largest city, youths clashed with police near the Syrian border.

Police used tear gas to disperse stone-throwing youths in nearby towns.

The US embassy banned official and personal travel to southern Jordan.

After days of occasional protests by truck drivers protesting high fuel costs, tensions are rising in Maan and other southern Jordanian cities.

The government has pledged to look into strikers’ requests but says it has already spent $700m to cap fuel price spikes this year.

Officials say they can’t pay more to subsidize prices due to IMF-backed reforms.

Maan and other Jordanian provincial cities closed Wednesday in solidarity with truckers’ demands for lower diesel prices.

Friday public protests are planned by some activist strikers. In central Amman, where demonstrators meet, police strengthened security.

Also Read

Turkey: Diyarbakir car bomb injures police

A car bomb exploded as a minibus carrying Turkish police officers. Two...