Two officers killed in shooting incidents in Amman, Maan

AMMAN – A policeman and an anti-narcotics agent have died in the line of duty, one on Monday, while the other succumbed to wounds he sustained in an ambush Saturday, the Public Security Department (PSD) has announced.

In a statement Monday, police said a member of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) passed away and another was injured after they were shot at while on patrol in Amman. 

The PSD media centre said on its official website that CID Warrant Officer Khaled Ahmad Bani Mefrej was shot and killed in Jabal Amman when his patrol responded to a situation where a person “acting suspiciously” was spotted in the area. 

The patrol tried to stop the suspicious person to check his identification card, when he suddenly started shooting at the policemen. 

The warrant officer died instantly, while his partner, who is a second lieutenant, was injured and he was reported in fair condition. 

An investigation was under way to identify the perpetrator, the statement said. 

The PSD also reported that Corporal Mohammad Atta Salaymeh from the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) died of wounds he sustained in a shoot-out with drug dealers while on duty in an area in the south on Saturday.

Salaymeh was among an AND team on a surveillance mission in the Rashediyeh area, in Maan Governorate, 220km from Amman. The agents found themselves targets of gunshots that hit their vehicle, the statement said, adding that policemen responded to the assault and the attackers fled the scene. 

The shooters were described in the statement as “very dangerous armed men” who were wanted for a number of drug dealing cases.