Five charged over shooting death in Madaba tribal brawl

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Sunday charged five men with manslaughter and attempted manslaughter in connection with the death of a 25-year-old man over the weekend during a brawl between two tribes in Madaba, a senior judicial source said.

The victim, a university student, was killed and seven others were injured when a fight erupted between two tribes in Madaba’s Faisalieh town on Friday, official sources said on Saturday.

Eight suspects were detained for questioning on Saturday, and on Sunday, Criminal Court Prosecutor Sultan Shakhanbeh charged five of them with manslaughter and attempted manslaughter, a senior judicial source said.

“The prosecutor is still questioning more suspects and has ordered that the weapons seized with them be sent to the crime lab for a ballistic match,” the judicial source told The Jordan Times.

The brawl between the two tribes reportedly started a few days earlier “over an alleged post on Facebook regarding a football match”, officials have said.

The situation was initially contained after the elders of the town intervened, but conflict reignited on Friday because the two parties live next to each other.

It started with “both sides reportedly throwing rocks at each other, but the incident turned deadly when individuals replaced rocks with live ammunition”, the source told The Jordan Times on Saturday.

Gendarmerie forces were called in to intervene and prevent the situation from escalating further, the source said.