DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Authorities in Oman fired tear gas Wednesday in demonstrators at a flashpoint town amid unrest within the sultanate’s floundering economy and mass layoffs. It was not immediately clear what triggered the police actions in Sohar, a town some 200 km (125 miles) northwest of the capital, Muscat. Demonstrators had stumbled and gathered around an overpass that’s been a rallying point. Activists posted movies online revealing a few demonstrators responding by hurling stones. Meanwhile, the Royal Oman Police, that left arrests at the beginning of the protests, hasn’t commented whatsoever about the demonstrations. Sohar similarly watched unrest throughout the 2011 Arab Spring. Demonstrations have struck in recent times throughout Oman, a country on the eastern border of the Arabian Peninsula. Oman already confronted economic difficulty with thousands of dollars of loans that were outstanding and difficulty finding sufficient work for the young individuals. Afterward came the coronavirus pandemic and replicated lockdowns which followed, additional depressing expansion within this state of 4.5 million people.