AMMAN, Jordan — Three policemen were killed Monday in a volatile region in southern Jordan as they tried to arrest several suspects in the killing of a police commander last week. The main suspect also died in the shooting, according to authorities.
The shooting occurred near the town of Maan, where Abdul Razzaq Abdel Hafez Al Dalabeh, deputy chief of the local police, was killed last week.
The agents surrounded the place where several suspected of participating in the murder of the officer were, according to the Directorate of Public Security. One of the suspects “fired rounds from an automatic weapon” and officers returned fire, according to the statement.
Police detained nine suspects and confiscated “automatic weapons and a large amount of ammunition,” the statement added.
The Middle Eastern kingdom has suffered its worst violent incidents in recent years, after truckers went on strike over skyrocketing fuel prices. Strikes and protests spread to several Jordanian cities, where protesters clashed with police last Thursday.
Dalabeh was shot by “outlaws” during clashes in Maan, according to police. The government later imposed a “temporary ban” on the social media platform TikTok, and King Abdullah II vowed to “deal firmly” with the criminals.
Jordan is a close ally of the West and has been seen for years as an island of stability in a turbulent region.