Crimeupdated 1h ago3 min read
Gunmen Open Fire at Greek Orthodox Church Funeral in Jordan’s Karak, Killing Seven
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Seven people killed and 34 wounded in church shooting during funeral in Karak, Jordan. Gunmen opened fire inside the Greek Orthodox church during a funeral in Hamoud, Karak.
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Church shooting in Karak
Gunmen opened fire at a Greek Orthodox church during a funeral in Jordan’s Karak governorate on Friday, killing at least seven people and wounding 34 others, according to Jordan’s Public Security Directorate. Obaidullah Al-Maaytah told a press conference that seven people are confirmed dead after the assault on a Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hamoud, and he said 27 of the wounded were receiving treatment in hospitals. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya attributed the attack to a “terrorist” act carried out by a group with “no relationship to humanity,” and he said the perpetrators were being sought.
Khaled Burqan told Al-Mamlaka that dozens of people were at the procession, and he said two attackers armed with a rifle and a pistol fired at mourners for several minutes. The BBC reported that gunmen arrived in a car, entered the church, opened fire, and then fled, while Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya described the attackers as a “group of extremists.”
Officials and eyewitnesses
Jordan’s King Abdullah II vowed authorities would confront the attackers with the harshest penalties, and he said, “The blood of Jordanians is precious, and we will strike with an iron fist against anyone who overreaches against this country.” Mazen al-Faraya told the press conference that the “terrorist” attack was “unprecedented” and was perpetrated by a group with “no relationship to humanity,” as he urged unity. Khaled Burqan described the attackers as two men armed with a rifle and a pistol, and he told Jordan’s al-Mamlaka state-run TV that the gunmen fired at the mourners for several minutes.
Al-Maaytah said security forces were deployed to the church and were pursuing two suspects, and he added that “the perpetrators will be caught and our national unity will not be hit”. The BBC said Khaled Burqan told the broadcaster that dozens of people had been inside the church for the funeral when the shooting began, and it described a heavy security presence at the entrance to a hospital treating people injured in the incident.
Aftermath and next steps
Jordanian authorities continued investigating the shooting, and Mohammad al-Momani said security services were investigating the shooting in a statement, while the kingdom’s law enforcement agency said gunmen opened fire inside the church. Al-Maaytah said the search for the gunmen was ongoing, and he pledged that the perpetrators would be caught, as Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya described the incident as a “terrorist” attack. The BBC reported that the death toll was revised multiple times, with a government spokesperson later saying six people had died before officials again revised the death toll to seven.
“Security services were investigating the shooting, government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said in a statement.”
France 24 reported that Interior Minister Mazin Al Farrayeh said the attack had been carried out by “extremists,” and it said it was too early to tell whether the attackers had links to known groups either inside or outside Jordan. The attack also drew international condemnation, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemning it and his spokesman Stephane Dujarric saying, “It goes without saying that an attack not only on a place of worship but during a funeral procession is especially heinous,” while the UAE foreign ministry condemned “terrorist and criminal acts.”