Jobless protesters clash with police in Jordan
Security forces in Jordan have clashed with a group of young demonstrators protesting their state of being unemployed in an area south of the capital, Amman.
Jordanian police claimed that the protesters were armed with “automatic weapons,” which they allegedly used to “fire directly” at the police forces in the Dhiban region of the city of Madaba, 70 kilometers south of Amman.
Three officers were shot and wounded, according to police, which also said 22 people were arrested.
Witnesses said the protest was peaceful until police intervened, firing tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. Police said, however, that the protesters had blocked roads with burning tires and order had to be restored.
Unemployment in Jordan reached 14.5 percent in the first quarter of 2016, according to official figures. Independent estimates put the figure at close to 30 percent, however. Jordan’s economic growth fell to 2.4 percent in 2015, down from 3.1 percent the previous year.
Dhiban is one of the poorest areas in Jordan. It was the birthplace of large-scale protests in 2011, when a series of uprisings and revolutions swept Arab dictatorships.
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