Police stabbed during Amman demonstration

Police fired tear gas on crowds of protesters on Friday after several officers were stabbed during a demonstration in Jordan’s capital Amman. According to a police spokesperson, 40 policemen were injured in total, six of them stabbed and in serious condition.

Reuters/Majed Jaber

They were trying to disperse a demonstration by Salafist Muslims, who have been holding rallies over the past few weeks to demand the release of 90 Islamist prisoners.

Some protesters attacked police and accused them of being atheists, police officials said.

Ealier in the day, more than 1,000 people demonstrated in Amman after midday prayers, demanding political reforms, the departure of Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit and the dissolution of parliament.

The protest was called by the Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Islamic Action Front, as well as left-wing and other opposition parties.

Meanwhile hundreds of members of the 24 March youth movement held a sit-in outside the city hall.

More demonstrations took place in the cities of Karak and Maan in the south and Zaraqa and Irbid in the north.