AMMAN — Gunfire killed a senior officer and wounded
two other police in the Kingdom’s south, where protesters have taken to the
streets for days against rising fuel prices, authorities said on Friday.
اضافة اعلان
Colonel Abdul Razzaq Dalabeh, the deputy police chief of
Maan province, was shot in the head on Thursday while officers tried to
"calm down riots" in the southern town of Husseiniya, the Public
Security Directorate (PSD) said in a statement.
A separate PSD statement said an officer and a
non-commissioned officer "were shot while calming down 'saboteurs' who had
staged riots", also in Husseiniya.
Several provinces in the south of Jordan have seen strikes
during the past few days. Truck drivers were the first to take action, followed
by taxi drivers and then merchants, who closed their premises on Wednesday to
protest higher fuel costs.
In some areas the demonstrators blocked roads with burning
tires or scuffled with security officers.
Because of incitement to violence and "calls for
chaos," the PSD's cybercrime unit said it suspended operations of the
TikTok social video app inside the kingdom, "after its misuse".
Fuel prices in Jordan have nearly doubled compared with a
year earlier, particularly the diesel used by trucks and buses, and kerosene
for heating.
The government has proposed relief measures including
financial aid for the most-affected families.
Global crude prices are up over the past year, and the
economic consequences of Russia's February invasion of Ukraine increased
economic pain for already-struggling people around the Arab world.
Energy costs have led to protests in Jordan before,
including in 2018 when prime minister Hani Mulki resigned after several days of
rallies against proposed tax reforms and energy price increases.
"Our only demand is reducing fuel prices," one
truck driver, vowing they will remain "steadfast", told Al-Mamlaka TV
on Thursday in Maan. He and his colleagues parked their rigs beside a highway
and held a sit-in, the images showed.
In debt
Another driver quoted by the channel asked: "What would
we say to a government whose people couldn't afford food, warmth, and fuel? Is
this what we deserve from the government?"
The NetBlocks internet monitor reported that TikTok had been
restricted in Jordan "on multiple internet providers".
The PSD said it protects freedom of opinion and peaceful
expression but would use "appropriate" force against rioters and
vandals.
Government spokesman Faisal Shboul on Twitter said the
cabinet condemned the attack "and affirms that the hand of justice will
extend to the killers and refer them to a fair judiciary to receive their
punishment".
The United States, a close ally of Jordan, on Thursday said
US government personnel had been restricted from both personal and official
travel to the provinces of Karak, Tafilah, Maan, and Aqaba until further
notice.
This was because of "reports of ongoing protests,
burning tires, and throwing stones at vehicles on streets and highways
throughout Jordan and particularly in the south," the US embassy in Jordan
said.
The World Bank says Jordan is heavily in debt and faces
around 23 percent unemployment.
The Hashemite kingdom relies extensively on foreign aid, of
which the US in September committed to provide $10.15 billion between 2023 and
2029.
Around 675,000 refugees from neighboring war-torn Syria are
registered with the United Nations in Jordan. Amman estimates the real figure
to be about twice that and says the cost of hosting them has exceeded $12
billion.
With multiple tensions around this part of the world,
France's Elysee Palace said in early December that a regional summit would take
place in Jordan "before the end of the year".
French President Emmanuel Macron is to attend, the palace
said at the time after he held a phone call with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed
Shia Al-Sudani.
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