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JAKARTA: Indonesian police fired tear gas Friday at hundreds of protesters rallying in the capital over the death of a motorcycle taxi driver, hours after the country’s president promised to investigate the incident.

Violent clashes between protesters and police broke out on Thursday over anger at higher wages and perceived lavish perks for lawmakers, as public discontent grows over the government’s handling of the economy.

The police response to the protests drew strong criticism after videos circulated on social media showing a black tactical vehicle running over a man.

President Prabowo Subianto promised Friday to investigate the death of gig motorcycle driver Affan Kurniawan, expressing “deepest condolences and sympathy” on behalf of the government.

“I have ordered the last night’s incident to be thoroughly and transparently investigated, and that the officers involved be held accountable,” he said in a statement.

The government will take “the strongest possible actions” if officers are found to have acted against proper conduct and prevailing regulations, he added.

Hundreds of protesters massed at the paramilitary police unit’s Jakarta headquarters on Friday afternoon to rally against the driver’s death when police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

Protests have also spread to other major cities in Indonesia, including Surabaya in East Java and Medan in North Sumatra province.

On Thursday hundreds rallied near the Indonesian parliament in Jakarta over issues including hefty pay for lawmakers, whose monthly housing allowance of 50 million rupiah ($3,000) is nearly 10 times the minimum wage in Jakarta.

Labor groups also protested earlier, demanding better pay and for the government to take action against recent mass layoffs of workers.

Thousands of drivers gathered near the police mobile brigade headquarters in Jakarta Friday, demanding accountability for Kurniawan’s death.

Police cordoned off a stretch of road near the mobile brigade headquarters in central Jakarta.

They fired teargas in an attempt to disperse protesters, mostly drivers of taxi motorcycles know locally as “ojeks.”

“I joined the protest because I’m very concerned about the death of my fellow driver,” 52-year-old Muzakir said.

“We demand justice for Affan, for the perpetrators who ran him over to be tried as fairly as possible, and to be fired from their institution.”

Hundreds of gig motorcycle drivers, many dressed in their signature green and black jackets, shouted outside of the police’s local mobile brigade headquarters, hurling objects.

Authorities are questioning seven officers in connection with the incident, the police said.

“We have agreed that the seven suspected violators have been proven to have violated the police ethics codes,” the National Police’s head of internal affairs division, Abdul Karim told a press conference.

He said the officers would be detained for further investigation.

The protests are an early challenge for Prabowo, who has pledged fast, state-driven growth to transform Southeast Asia’s largest economy into a major global powerhouse.

But some of his policies, including widespread budget cuts announced this year to fund his flagship free meal program for schoolchildren and a new sovereign wealth fund, have sparked public discontent.

ISLAMABAD: Airstrikes that Afghanistan’s Taliban government blamed on neighboring Pakistan struck two eastern provinces of the country, killing at least three people, wounding seven others and damaging homes, officials and witnesses said Thursday.
In Kabul, the foreign ministry decried the strikes that took place late Wednesday in Nangarhar and Khost provinces, calling them a “provocative act” by Pakistan and summoning the Pakistani ambassador in Kabul.
The Afghan Defense Ministry also condemned the strikes. “Such barbaric and brutal actions benefit neither sides; rather intensify the distance between the two Muslim nations and fuel hatred. These irresponsible activities will have consequences,” it wrote on the X social media platform.
Neither the Pakistani government nor the military commented on the alleged strikes.
Kabul previously has accused Pakistan of launching airstrikes in Afghanistan against suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban, a militant group banned in Pakistan and blamed for some of that country’s deadliest terrorist attacks.
In Nangarhar’s Shinwari district, members of a family whose house was reduced to rubble sifted through the debris to try to recover what they could.
“They dropped the first big bomb on my house. My house was completely destroyed,” said Shah Sawar, a resident of Nangarhar’s Shinwari district. “First I pulled a child out of the rubble, then I pulled four children and a woman out.”
Nangarhar’s deputy governor, Maulvi Azizullah Mustafa, said the strikes were fired by Pakistani drones. The Afghan foreign ministry said three people were killed and seven wounded in Nangarhar and Khost.
Kabul in December 2024 accused Pakistan of carrying out airstrikes against suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban in Paktika province. Pakistan also did not acknowledge those strikes at the time. Kabul claimed hitting several points inside Pakistan in retaliation.
The latest violence comes a week after top diplomats from Pakistan, China and Afghanistan met in Kabul and pledged closer cooperation against terrorism. It also came three months after Pakistan and Afghanistan upgraded their diplomatic ties to improve bilateral relations.
However, relations between Islamabad and Kabul have remained tense since 2021, when the Afghan Taliban seized power, mainly over Kabul’s alleged support of the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks on security forces and civilians in Pakistan in recent years.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring the Pakistani Taliban, which is separate but closely allied to the Afghan Taliban. Kabul denies that, saying it does not allow anyone to use its soil against another country.