A senior Jordanian police officer was killed Thursday as part of protests against rising fuel prices, authorities confirmed Friday, saying two other officers were wounded by gunfire.
The Public Security Directorate (PSD) has indicated that the deceased is the ‘number two’ of the police in the city of Maan, Abdulrazaq Dalabé, who was shot in the head during a «riot» in the town of Huseiniya, as reported by the Jordanian state news agency, Petra.
He pointed to «saboteurs» as responsible for what happened and promised to «strike with an iron fist all those who attempt to attack life and public property and threaten the security of the homeland and citizens».
The PSD has further stressed that it protects peaceful freedom of opinions and warned that it will take «appropriate» force against those responsible for riots. «We will not allow them to carry out their plans or undermine the security and stability of the homeland,» it has reiterated.
He has therefore asked the population to «stay away from criminal and subversive acts incited by some people» and has also requested that no information be published that has not been verified by the authorities.
The economic crisis in Jordan has been deepened by rising fuel prices, which led truck drivers to go on strike last week. In addition, protests have been ongoing over the past few days, including several on Thursday that led security forces to launch tear gas.
In this regard, Jordanian government spokesman Faisal al Shbul said that the authorities have held meetings with parliamentarians to address the economic crisis and argued that the situation has been aggravated by the war in Ukraine.
Al Shbul said that inflation remains low and stressed that the dialogue with the strikers will continue to try to find solutions, according to The Jordan Times. On the other hand, he regretted that the truckers’ strike also affects the country’s economy.
In this way, he pointed out that the population has the right to strike, although he clarified that they do not have the right to force others to stop working, for which he asked the truck owners to cooperate in order to facilitate the delivery of medicines and food to other parts of the Arab country.
