Eight people were killed on Friday after gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a church in Jordan. The rare attack targeted the Christian minority in the country.
Authorities described the violence as a terrorist act carried out by extremists. The shooting took place at St George’s Greek Orthodox church in Hamoud, located in the Karak governorate.
Maj Gen Abdallah al-Maaytah, the head of Jordan’s Public Security Directorate, said that the hunt for the attackers was continuing. Most of those injured were receiving medical treatment. The health minister confirmed that 40 people were wounded in the incident.
The interior minister, Mazin Al Farrayeh, stated that extremists carried out the assault. He noted that it was too early to determine whether the attackers had any connections to known groups inside or outside Jordan.
Jordanian state-owned Al-Mamlaka television broadcast security camera footage from the church. The video showed three individuals firing at the building from a pavement while hiding behind trees and a low wall before running towards the entrance.
Jordanian Prime Minister Jafar Hassan condemned the violence in a post on X. He wrote that the shooting was the result of a terrorist ideology and blind extremism, adding that society would not be allowed to follow that path.
Khaled Burqan, an attendee at the funeral, told Al-Mamlaka that dozens of people were present when the gunmen began firing continuously for several minutes. Another witness, Ihab Ammareen, described seeing bloodied individuals collapse to the floor amid widespread screaming and crying.
Jordanian King Abdullah visited Karak hours after the tragedy and went to a military hospital to see the victims. He warned that the perpetrators would face the harshest retaliation.
“The terrorist attack against Karak will be met with the harshest retaliation,” King Abdullah said in a statement. “Those who delude themselves into thinking they can divide Jordanians with their bullets have no chance in the face of our unity.”
The United States embassy in Amman announced that security had been increased at shopping malls, foreign embassies, and other sites across the country. UN Secretary General António Guterres also condemned the violence, stating that attacks against civilians and places of worship are unacceptable.
