Jordanian security forces arrested three armed men in a dawn raid on Monday in Karak governorate, officials said, in connection with a Friday shooting at a Greek Orthodox church that killed people attending a funeral. The Public Security Directorate described the suspects as "terrorists" and did not name them.1,3,5
The directorate said the men were found inside an abandoned house, refused to surrender and opened fire on security forces, who returned fire and wounded all three. No security personnel were hurt. Authorities also seized a number of weapons and a large quantity of ammunition from the suspects.1,3
The attack took place at St George's Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hmoud, in Karak governorate, which lies south of the capital, Amman. Other reports spell the village Hammoud or Hamoud. Verified CCTV footage from Friday showed three men holding guns approaching and firing on the church.1,3,4,5
The Associated Press, as reported by The Daily Caller, said images aired by Jordanian state television showed two attackers with pistols firing as they approached the church, and a third arriving with a semiautomatic rifle. Al Jazeera described two attackers who arrived in a vehicle, joined by a third carrying a semi-automatic rifle. A man who was at the church, Khalid al-Mdanat, told BBC Arabic the attack lasted around 15 minutes and that the gunmen fled in a pick-up truck "firing as they went."1,4,5
The casualty figures differ. The BBC and France 24 said nine people were killed, while Al Jazeera, citing Jordan's Ministry of Health, said eight. Early Associated Press reports put the death toll at seven. The BBC reported 34 people injured. Al Jazeera said 40 were injured and 27 were still in hospital, and early Associated Press reports put the number of wounded at 40.1,3,4,5
Public Security Director Maj. Gen. Abdullah Al-Maaytah told a press conference that all three suspects had been injured. "All three terrorists have been injured. They have been taken to hospital and are still receiving treatment," he said. He said the suspects were two brothers and another man related to them by marriage, and that they were Islamic extremists who would be investigated and brought before the courts.3
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 of the attack. He said there was "no indication of any external contacts or collaboration with foreign parties." He also said authorities were "examining every factor that leads youth toward extremism."1,3
Before the arrests, government statements had referred to the attackers as "unknown assailants," and no group had claimed responsibility. Al Jazeera reported that the motive remained unclear because the attackers had not been identified.1,5
King Abdullah II said in a post on X that security forces had "chased them to the very end." "We vowed the terrorists would not escape punishment, and no proponent of dark ideologies that divide Jordanians will be tolerated," he wrote. Earlier, he visited wounded victims in hospital in military fatigues, carrying a pistol on his hip, and said, "We will show them." He has also ordered a review of the country's security procedures for responding to terrorist attacks.1,3,5
Government communications minister Mohammad al-Momani said, "we stand ready and will strike with an iron fist, without mercy or leniency, against anyone who attempts to undermine Jordan's security." Prime Minister Jafar Hassan ordered three days of national mourning on Friday, with flags flown at half-mast, and said the attack was a by-product of terrorist ideology and "blind extremism," without giving details about the attackers.3,4,5
Eight of the victims were buried on Sunday beside the church, in a funeral attended by thousands of people, which was led by Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III. The patriarch had visited wounded survivors and condemned the attack as a "vile, cowardly, and bloody act." The ninth victim, Dr Mohammed al-Qassous, was buried near Amman on Monday.1,3
Karak is home to a sizeable Christian community in the Muslim-majority kingdom. Al Jazeera put Jordan's Christian minority at about 300,000 of a population of 11.5 million, while France 24 said Christians make up between two and three percent of the population. France 24 also reported that attacks on houses of worship in Jordan are rare, and recalled a 2016 attack in Karak that targeted a security centre and police patrols and left 10 dead. The Daily Caller reported that in 2016 gunmen had ambushed police and hit a tourist castle, and that seven of the dead were officers.1,3,4,5
Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo, called the attack a "heinous terrorist attack." United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned it as "especially heinous" and called for accountability. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun used the same description as al-Tayeb. Azerbaijan, Iraq, Poland, Palestine and Qatar also issued statements condemning the attack and expressing solidarity with Jordan, and the United States embassy in Jordan offered condolences to the victims and survivors.4,5
The reports did not say when the suspects would appear before a court or what charges they might face. One suspect was in critical condition, Al-Mamlaka reported, and the three men remained in hospital receiving treatment.3,5
