Jordanian security forces arrested three armed men on Monday after a shootout at an abandoned house in Karak governorate, three days after gunmen opened fire on a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church.1,3,5
The Public Security Directorate said the suspects were located on Monday hiding in an abandoned house in the village of Al-Jadeeda. The attack took place on Friday at a church in the village of Hamoud, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) southwest of the capital, Amman, although the Daily Caller put the distance at about 110 miles.1,3,4,5
The directorate said the men refused to surrender, attacked security forces, and were arrested after the forces returned fire and wounded all three. A Jordanian government source said the fighting lasted about three hours and left one suspect in critical condition. All three suspects were taken to hospital.1,3,5
Director of Public Security Major General Abdullah Al-Maaytah told a press conference: 'All three terrorists have been injured. They have been taken to hospital and are still receiving treatment.' Security forces seized a number of weapons and a large quantity of ammunition, and no casualties were reported among security personnel.1,3,5
Dorgham Halasa, a mourner inside the church, said gunfire broke out about 15 minutes into the service. 'It was a weird situation, and heavy gunfire,' Halasa said. Images aired by Jordanian state television showed two attackers firing pistols as they approached the church and a third arriving with a semiautomatic rifle, the Associated Press said. Halasa did not see the attackers, and others reported four of them, a count the news agency could not confirm.4
The death toll differs across reports. Al Jazeera, citing Jordan's Ministry of Health, said eight people were killed and 40 injured, while France 24 and DW said nine were killed. The Daily Caller, citing the Associated Press, put the toll at seven dead and 40 wounded. Of the injured, 27 remained in hospital on Monday. Health Minister Ibrahim al-Budour said two of the wounded were in critical condition, while the director of Prince Ali Military Hospital in Karak said one person was in critical condition after surgery.1,3,4,5
Maaytah said the arrested men, two brothers and another man related to them by marriage, are Islamic extremists and will be investigated and brought before the courts. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya told the state broadcaster Al-Mamlaka that the attackers were all Jordanians who had been holed up in a building in a village near the site. 'There is no indication of any external contacts or collaboration with foreign parties,' he said. The directorate did not name any affiliated groups.1,3
Government Communication Minister Mohammad Momani commended the security forces for what he called a successful joint operation, and said all three suspects had been injured and taken into custody after they refused to surrender. 'We stand ready and will strike with an iron fist, without mercy or leniency, against anyone who attempts to undermine Jordan's security,' Momani said. Faraya told Al-Mamlaka: 'The security services have fulfilled their duties, resulting in the capture of those who carried out this terrorist act.'1,3,5
King Abdullah II said in an X post that security forces 'chased them to the very end,' and wrote: 'We vowed the terrorists would not escape punishment, and no proponent of dark ideologies that divide Jordanians will be tolerated.' He also said the attack would be met with a response that 'will confront the terrorist act that targeted Karak with the harshest penalties.' He also visited wounded victims in hospital, dressed in military fatigues and carrying a pistol on his hip, and said, 'We will show them.'1,3,4
Faraya said authorities were reviewing the circumstances that lead young people to embrace violence and would hold accountable anyone found to have participated in the attack. King Abdullah II has ordered a review of the country's security procedures for responding to attacks. On Friday, Prime Minister Jafar Hassan ordered three days of national mourning, with flags flown at half-mast over government and public institutions. Hassan also blamed extremist ideology during a security meeting in Karak.1,3,4
Eight of the nine victims were buried on Sunday next to the church in a funeral that drew a huge crowd amid a large security presence, AFP images showed. The ninth victim, Mohammed al-Qasous, was buried in south Amman on Monday. Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo, called the assault a 'heinous terrorist attack,' the Associated Press said, and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun used the same description, according to CBS News. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack as 'especially heinous' and called for accountability.3,4
Karak is home to many members of Jordan's Christian minority, which Al Jazeera put at about 300,000 of the country's 11.5 million people. France 24 said Christians make up between two and three percent of the population and noted that attacks on houses of worship in Jordan are rare. France 24 also reported that a 2016 attack in Karak targeted a security centre and police patrols, leaving 10 people dead, while the Daily Caller said gunmen in a 2016 wave of attacks in Karak governorate ambushed police and hit a tourist castle, killing 10 people, seven of them officers. Under Jordanian law, murder is punishable by death by hanging.1,3,4
