Jordan church shooting: seven killed after gunmen open fire at Karak funeral
Gunmen opened fire at a funeral at St George's Greek Orthodox church in Hamoud, Karak governorate, on Friday, in an attack Jordanian authorities called a terrorist act by extremists; the health minister said 40 people were injured.
Jordan church shooting: seven killed after gunmen open fire at Karak funeral
What happened at the church
The jordan church shooting took place at St George's Greek Orthodox church in Hamoud, in Karak governorate, where gunmen attacked a funeral on Friday. The report's figures differ: eight people were killed in the attack, while the headline reports seven killed and the health minister put the number of injured at 40.
A security-camera video aired by state-owned Al-Mamlaka television, which Reuters verified, showed three people firing at the church from a pavement, hiding behind trees and a low wall, then running toward the entrance. Reuters footage showed blood smeared on the floor near the church entrance, where security forces were deployed.
Witness Khaled Burqan told Al-Mamlaka that dozens of people were at the funeral and that the gunmen fired on them for several minutes. Another witness, Ihab Ammareen, told the channel he saw bloodied people collapse.
"People were crying, wailing, screaming – it's hard to describe," he said.
Officials call it a terrorist act
Jordanian authorities described the Friday attack as a terrorist act by extremists. Maj Gen Abdallah al-Maaytah, head of Jordan's Public Security Directorate, said most of those injured in the shooting were receiving treatment and that the hunt for the attackers was continuing.
Interior minister Mazin Al Farrayeh said the attack had been carried out by "extremists", but that it was too early to tell whether they had links to known groups inside or outside Jordan. Prime minister Jafar Hassan wrote on X: "This is a result of a terrorist ideology and blind extremism and we will not allow society to go down this path."
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
King Abdullah vows retaliation
King Abdullah visited Karak hours after the attack and said the perpetrators would be punished "with an iron fist". In a statement quoted in the report, the king warned: "The terrorist attack against Karak will be met with the harshest retaliation." He added that no one who believed Jordanians could be divided by bullets would succeed against the country's unity, according to the statement.
International reaction and security steps
The US embassy in Amman said security had been stepped up at malls, foreign embassies and other locations across Jordan on Saturday. Condemnation came from abroad as well:
- UN secretary general António Guterres condemned the violence on X, saying attacks against civilians and places of worship were unacceptable.
- US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz described the attack on X as a "depraved and brutal attack on a house of worship".
- Such attacks are rare in Jordan, though US authorities say they have repeatedly foiled attempted attacks by Islamist militants there in recent years.
- Christians make up a minority of Jordan's population, and the country has several biblical sites attracting Christian pilgrims.
Maj Gen al-Maaytah said most of the injured were receiving treatment and the hunt for the attackers was continuing; no group had claimed responsibility as of the report's latest update.
