WADI MUSA, Jordan — In the early afternoon of Aug. 25, four armored vehicles belonging to the General Directorate of Gendarmerie descended upon the Nabataean ruins of Petra, the focal point of Jordan’s tourism industry that contributes 20% of the country’s GDP. “I was doing a live video when the tanks came in, and that’s when they started launching the gas grenades,” said Natalie, an eyewitness who preferred to withhold her last name due to the incident’s sensitivity. Natalie is an American tour operator who lives in the Petra region with her husband, a member of the indigenous Bdoul tribe.

According to Jordan’s Public Security Directorate, the gendarmes coordinated with the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) in a “security campaign” to “remove any nonpermitted installations in the region.” The operation sparked “limited riots,” prompting the US Embassy to issue a now-deleted warning against travel to Petra. Meanwhile, videos depicting tear gas and Bdoul children throwing rocks to repel the gendarmes spread on social media.

In a primetime appearance on Roya TV on Aug. 28, PDTRA Chief Commissioner Suleiman Farajat explained to a national audience, “The problem is that numerous infractions occur within the archaeological site,” including “child labor, the presence of women, aggressive offering of services, the scenic overviews …carriages pulled by horses in a manner that could impact tourists and the presence of souvenir stands everywhere.”

He claimed that “the goal was solely to bring order to the archaeological site since the PDTRA had exhausted all previous solutions.” According to Farajat, the operation “lasted for half an hour, after which the tourism continued. We have good tourist numbers, as usual.”