Suspected shooter arrested after Sarih unrest

AMMAN — Security forces on Monday arrested the main suspect in the shooting death of Ali Athamneh on Saturday in Sarih in Irbid Governorate. 

Athamneh, 51, was shot while sitting in front of his house with five other men from his family. The shooting, which injured five others, followed  a heated argument with a group of men believed to be relatives of a man who was shot and
killed in May.

The police arrested the man along with a number of other suspects who were alleged to have been in the same vehicle used in the shooting, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The agents also confiscated a shotgun, believed to have been the weapon used in the shooting, and the vehicle used in the attack, Petra quoted a security official as saying.

The clashes were sparked in early May following an argument between neighbours over vehicle parking. The argument turned violent and escalated, leading to attacks on a hospital and private property, in which wooden sticks, rocks and live ammunition were used, resulting in one death and four injuries.

On Sunday night, another shooting took place in Sarih, which was believed to linked to Saturday’s violence, when unknown assailants shot at a minivan, injuring one woman and her one-year-old son, according to Petra.

In regard of efforts to contain the conflict between the tribes of Athamneh and Shyyab, former prime minister Abdur-Rau’f Rawabdeh and a number of former senior officials and community leaders from Sarih have led efforts to reconcile the two feuding tribes.