Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Residents from the town of Zaatari in Mafraq, northeastern Jordan, blockaded the main gate to the Zaatari Syrian refugee camp and blocked the main highway in the city in protest of the government not giving them job permits to work inside the Syrian refugee camp located in Zaatari in Mafraq governorate.

The men set tires on fire on the main highway and blocked the main entrance into the Syrian refugee camp, the biggest in Jordan hosting over 80,000 Syrian refugees.

Eye witnesses told Ammon News that gunshots were fired in the air during the protest.

The protesters said they would continue to protest until they are given employment permits to work inside the camp, amid rising unemployment and difficult economic conditions in the town.

Security and Gendarmerie forces were deployed to the town to reopen the road and maintain order.

Following increased tensions and escalation of the protest, Jordanian authorities deployed Badia forces to contain the incident, a government official told Ammon News.