Gunmen Open Fire at Funeral in Jordan Church, Killing 7 and Wounding 40
The attack on a Greek Orthodox church in the southern city of Karak prompted three days of national mourning, and King Abdullah II vowed the 'harshest penalties' for those responsible.
Gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the Jordanian city of Karak on Friday, killing seven people and wounding 40 others, authorities said. Karak is about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of the capital, Amman.
Footage broadcast on Jordanian state television showed two gunmen who appeared to be holding pistols approaching the church and firing. A third man who appeared to be holding a semiautomatic rifle then approached and opened fire, and all three ran toward the church. Video taken by witnesses shows broken glass and pools of blood on the church floor. The Associated Press could not independently verify how many attackers were involved.
Dorgham Halasa, who was among the mourners inside, said intense gunfire erupted about 15 minutes after the funeral began and people started running. "It was a weird situation, and heavy gunfire," he said. He did not see the gunmen himself, but said other people told him they had seen four of them.
A government statement said the attack was "carried out by unknown assailants" and did not say whether any of the gunmen had been captured or killed. It said investigations were under way "at full speed." Jordan's health minister, Ibrahim al-Budour, said two of the wounded were in critical condition. The kingdom declared three days of national mourning, according to the state Petra News Agency.
King Abdullah II said on X that Jordan "will confront the terrorist act that targeted Karak with the harshest penalties" and offered condolences to the families of those killed and wishes for recovery to the wounded. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan told a security meeting in Karak on Friday evening that the attack was the result of terrorist ideology and blind extremism, and that the assailants would be punished. He said legal measures would be taken against anyone seeking to introduce extremism into the country.
Karak is home to a minority Christian population. The city has seen deadly violence before. In 2016, gunmen ambushed police in a series of attacks there, including at a Crusader castle popular with tourists, killing 10 people, seven of them officers, and wounding dozens. Jordanian security forces killed those gunmen after a long standoff.
Condemnation came quickly from across the region. Leaders in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Oman denounced the killings. Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo, the Sunni Muslim world's foremost religious institution, called the shooting a "heinous terrorist attack." Iraq's foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, phoned his Jordanian counterpart and affirmed Iraq's solidarity with Jordan "in the face of terrorism," his office said.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack as "especially heinous" because it struck during a funeral, according to his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric. Guterres called for all those responsible to be found and held to account. No group had claimed responsibility as of Saturday, and Jordanian officials had not named a suspect or a motive.
