Anti-government fuel hike protests continue in Jordan

Unrest in Jordan commences for a second day A "gunman" was killed early Thursday and 12 Jordanian policemen were wounded after their station came under attack in the north amid a wave of angry protests across the country over a huge rise in fuel prices. Protesters in various governorates in Jordan blocked vital roads and triggered aggravated violence in protest of the government's decision to lift subsidies on oil derivatives and gas.
The unrest erupted on Tuesday night after the price increases under which the cost of household gas will rise 53 percent and petrol by around 12 percent.
Security officials stated that a security station in al-Wasatiyah district In Irbid was attacked, allegedly by an armed group late Wednesday night who attempted to storm into it.
Clashes erupted between police and the rioters, leading to the injury of 12 security workers and four of the attackers.
One member of "the armed group" was pronounced dead upon arrival to the hospital, after sustaining fatal wounds, security sources said, adding that one policeman is in critical condition in a hospital intensive care unit after being shot by unidentified assailants late Wednesday night in Shafa Badran district in Amman.
Areas in Jabal al-Hussein in the capital Amman witnessed a complete electric blackout amid riots in the area after security forces used tear gas and live fire to disperse protesters.
Police cordoned-off the area surrounding the Interior Ministry headquarters at Jamal Abdel Nasser Square in central Amman after the Muslim Brotherhood of Jordan called for an open sit-in in the area to begin Wednesday night.
Riots also renewed in the southern governorate of Karak with protesters clashing with anti-riot police and torched the old governor house.
Public Security Department (PSD) media centre said that protesters placed burning tires in the abandoned governor home, adding that protesters used Molotov cocktails and improvised incendiary weapons against security forces, which used tear gas to disperse crowds.
Eye witnesses told Arabstoday that the protest in Karak witnessed harsh slogans against the government, and critical chants against King Abdullah II.
At midnight, protesters torched the office of the Civil Status and Passports Department in the city of Salt, northwest of Amman, where the house of Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour is located.
In Kufranja, northern Jordan, police clashed with protesters who attempted to storm local business headquarters after burning tires and trash containers in the main roads.
In Madaba, rioters burnt tires and blocked main roads.
In Sareeh, north of Jordan, rioters attack municipality building and license department building.
In Nuzha district in Amman, protesters set police kiosk on fire and attempted to storm into Nuzha police station.
Clashes erupted in Dhiban in Madaba governorate between protesters and security forces, who had to use tear gas to disperse crowds that attacked a police station, torched three police vehicles and hurled rocks at the station, according to security sources.
In northern town of Kufr Asad, a major road was blocked by protesters.
A demonstration erupted in the southern governorate of Tafileh Wednesday afternoon, and also in Ma'an, Zarqaa, and Rubba.
Around 33 people were arrested in the riots and protests that erupted throughout the kingdom on Tuesday and Wednesday against price hikes, security sources said, revealing that 24 were arrested in the capital Amman, six in the southern governorate of Tafileh, and four in Karak.
A meeting was held earlier on Wednesday that brought together youth, popular, and political movements in which they called on citizens to continue demonstrations and to take to the streets throughout Jordan in protest of the government's recent decision to lift subsidies on fuel derivatives, causing a major hike in prices.