Jordan: Gunmen open fire on church funeral, killing at least seven
Attackers targeted a Greek Orthodox church in Karak during a funeral, wounding 34 people. King Abdullah II vows the “harshest retaliation” as a manhunt continues.
Archive image · Photo: Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Gunmen attacked a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud in Jordan's Karak governorate on Friday. Public Security Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Abdallah al-Maaytah said at least seven people were killed and 34 injured, 27 of whom were still in hospital. Officials had earlier put the death toll at six. One witness said 150 to 200 people were in and around the church, and most victims were reportedly aged between 50 and 70.
According to authorities, the attackers got out of a vehicle, opened fire and fled. Security camera footage aired by state broadcaster Al-Mamlaka, whose location Reuters verified, shows three gunmen. No arrests have been reported and no group has claimed responsibility. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya called the attackers "extremists" but said it was too early to say whether they were linked to known groups.
King Abdullah II travelled to Karak in the evening and vowed to respond with an "iron fist". UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack, as did US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese said the attack was alien to Jordan's moderate Islam. Christians are a small minority in Jordan, and attacks on places of worship there are extremely rare.