Top Jordan officer killed in fuel price protests: police

A senior Jordanian police officer was shot dead and two other police were wounded during protests in the south of the country, which has witnessed days of protests over rising fuel prices, authorities said Friday.

Colonel Abdul Razzaq Dalabeh, the deputy police chief of Maan province, was shot in the head on Thursday while police tried to "calm down riots" in the southern town of Al-Husseiniya, the Public Security Directorate said in a statement.

A separate statement said an officer and a non-commissioned officer "were shot while calming down 'saboteurs' who had staged riots", also in Al-Husseiniya.

The PSD said that it protects freedom of opinion and peaceful expression but would use "appropriate" force with anyone who stages riots and vandalises property.

"We will strike with an iron fist anyone who attempts to attack lives and public property and threatens the security of the homeland and the citizen," the PSD said.