Crimeupdated 1h ago2 min read
MapJordanian Security Forces Arrest Hazaa Zidan Thenibat, Mashaal Zidan Thbeibat, Ahmad Sami Thneibat After Karak Church Attack
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This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Nine people were killed and dozens injured in the Karak church attack. Three men arrested Monday after a dawn shootout in Karak; all wounded.
Dawn raid arrests suspects
Jordanian security forces arrested three suspects in connection with a Friday attack on a Greek Orthodox church in the Karak region after a dawn firefight in which the suspects barricaded themselves in an abandoned house in the village of Al-Jadeeda in the Karak region. Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya told reporters that all three suspects sustained "serious injuries" in what he described as a "fierce" firefight, and Jordanian officials said there were no casualties reported among security forces. The attack killed at least nine people and wounded more than 40 others, and it occurred around 75 miles southwest of the capital Amman during a funeral service.
Major General Obeidallah Al-Maaytah said the suspects did not appear to have pre-planned the attack, but instead made the decision in the moment, and he added that the three suspects were members of the same family from the local area. Jordan’s Public Security Directorate said firearms and ammunition were recovered from the site, and the office of Jordan's King Abdullah II named the suspects as Hazaa Zidan Thenibat, Mashaal Zidan Thbeibat, and Ahmad Sami Thneibat.
Names, ideology, and resistance
Jordan’s Public Security Directorate said the suspects refused to surrender and attacked security forces, who returned fire and arrested all three after they were subdued and taken into custody, having sustained severe injuries.
Maj.-Gen. Obeidallah Al-Maaytah said the suspects "adhered to an extremist, radical ideology," and he added that two of those arrested were brothers, with one of them planning the attack.
The office of Jordan's King Abdullah II said the king vowed, "We vowed the terrorists would not escape punishment, and no proponent of dark ideologies that divide Jordanians will be tolerated."
Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said Jordan would hold accountable everyone found to have been involved, and he told reporters that "everyone who has been part of this terrorist act will be taken to justice."
AP reported that Jordanian Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya identified the three men as the perpetrators, and AP said the arrest involved gunfire and the three men were wounded.
Aftermath and what comes next
Jordan ordered authorities to respond with an "iron fist" to the unprecedented attack on the Christian minority community, and Jordan’s Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said the country would not tolerate extremist terrorism. Al-Faraya said the file was not yet closed and investigations were still ongoing, and he added that "there are no indications" of any links between the suspects and other cells. AP reported that victims’ relatives said the arrests brought them some relief, and Khaled al-Borqan told Al-Mamlaka, "Despite the deep and immense tragedy, what happened today has eased our pain."
BBC reported that King Abdullah II praised security forces for chasing the suspects "to the very end," and BBC said no group had yet claimed responsibility for Friday's attack. The attack struck St George's Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hamoud in Karak governorate during a funeral, and BBC said one man at the church told BBC Arabic that the attack lasted around 15 minutes.