Calm restored in Ajloun after arson attacks over man’s death

AMMAN — Calm was restored in Ajloun on Wednesday following disturbances and arson attacks that the northern city witnessed a day earlier over the death of a man in Amman, official sources said.

Angry residents set some 30 dunums of forest on fire to protest against the death of a 29-year-old Ajloun resident following a police chase in the capital’s Tlaa Al Ali neighbourhood, a senior police official said.

“Some 32 individuals started fires in the forest and also blocked several roads, and Gendarmerie forces were dispatched to contain the situation,” the official told The Jordan Times, adding that tear gas was used to disperse the protesters, and no one was injured.

“No one was arrested because the incident occurred late at night and our priority was to extinguish the fires and save the forest,” the police official said.

A Civil Defence Department (CDD) official said dozens of firemen took part in extinguishing the blaze.

“Firefighters went on foot to extinguish the fire because it was close to our department in Ajloun,” the CDD official told The Jordan Times.

The police official said the Ajloun resident who died in Amman hid in a four-storey building when chased by police.

“The man saw a police patrol and started running so they chased him,” the official explained, adding that the suspect went to a building “and before we could reach him he jumped from the fourth floor and died”.

“We have no idea why he started running. He doesn’t have a criminal record and he was only required to appear in some court cases for minor offences,” the official said.