Gunmen opened fire during a funeral service at a Greek Orthodox church in southern Jordan on Friday, killing seven people and wounding dozens of others in a rare assault on the country’s Christian minority, officials said.
The shooting took place at the church in Karak, a city roughly 110 miles south of the capital, Amman. Between 150 and 200 mourners were inside when the assault began, according to accounts provided to Jordanian state media.
Chaos During a Funeral Service
Surveillance images broadcast on Jordanian state television showed two armed men carrying handguns approaching the building and firing, followed by a third attacker carrying a semiautomatic rifle before all three rushed toward the structure. One witness, Dorgham Halasa, told reporters that heavy gunfire erupted roughly 15 minutes into the service, sending panicked mourners running for cover amid shattered glass and blood-stained floors.
Casualty figures varied slightly in the immediate aftermath. Jordan’s director of public security, Maj. Gen. Obeidallah Maaytah, confirmed that seven people were killed and 34 were wounded, with 27 remaining hospitalized, according to reports from DW and Fox News. The Guardian reported that up to 40 people suffered injuries. Jordan’s health minister, Ibrahim al-Budour, said at least two of the wounded were in critical condition.
Security forces quickly sealed off the area, but the government did not immediately say whether any of the attackers were captured or killed. Jordan’s Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya stated that a group of extremists carried out the bloodshed and that investigators already have identified suspects, though their names were withheld pending the investigation, according to local media reports cited by DW.
Vows of Retaliation and Regional Condemnation
King Abdullah II condemned the killings as a terrorist act and warned that the perpetrators would face severe punishment.
“Those who delude themselves into thinking that they can divide Jordanians with their bullets have no chance in the face of our unity,” King Abdullah II wrote on social media, adding that the state will “strike with an iron fist against those who dare to threaten our nation.”
Prime Minister Jafar Hassan convened an emergency security meeting in Karak on Friday evening, attributing the violence to blind extremist ideology. The Jordanian government declared three days of national mourning following the incident, the kingdom’s state news agency reported.
Condemnations arrived swiftly from foreign capitals and international organizations. Officials in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Oman denounced the violence. Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb of Al-Azhar in Cairo called the assault a heinous crime, while Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein phoned his Jordanian counterpart to pledge Baghdad’s solidarity against terrorism.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking through a spokesperson, termed the attack on mourners “especially heinous” and called for those responsible to be held accountable. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz also issued a statement offering prayers and condemning the bloodshed at a house of worship.
A Rare Shock to National Security
Gun assaults on religious sites remain uncommon in Jordan, a Muslim-majority nation of 11.5 million with a Christian minority of several hundred thousand people. Karak, which retains a notable Christian population, previously witnessed significant violence in 2016 when armed extremists ambushed security personnel and took tourists hostage at a historic Crusader castle, resulting in 10 deaths before security forces eliminated the attackers.
Government spokesperson Mohammad al-Momani said the investigation is continuing at full speed. Authorities have not yet disclosed the motive behind the assault, announced any arrests or detailed the exact whereabouts of the perpetrators.
