Karak Church Attack: Three Suspects Flee After Killing Eight During Funeral

Three gunmen struck a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud on Friday afternoon, killing eight people and wounding 40 others during a funeral service. The Ministry of Health reported that seven victims died at the scene, while an eighth, a woman, succumbed to her injuries hours later. As of Saturday, 27 wounded individuals remained hospitalized, with one patient in critical condition following surgery at Prince Ali Military Hospital in Karak.

Survivors recounted the sequence of events, noting an explosion shortly after the service began. Two attackers arrived by vehicle and were joined by a third man carrying a semi-automatic rifle. They entered the church and fired for several minutes. Nasser al-Burqan, a lawyer who survived, stated that one attacker stood two meters away and fired a handgun at him. His son, also present, was shot in the leg and is receiving treatment in hospital. Tarek Ammarin, who was visiting an injured relative, described the incident as a massacre in every sense of the word.

King Abdullah II ordered a review of Jordan's security procedures for responding to terrorist attacks. He offered condolences to the victims' families and stated that those responsible would face the harshest penalties. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan labeled the attack a product of terrorist ideology and blind extremism. Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh attributed the violence to a group of extremists but did not name a specific organization. The motive for the attack remains unclear, and government statements continue to refer to the perpetrators as unknown assailants.

Security camera footage broadcast by the state channel Al-Mamlaka showed three individuals shooting outside the church and firing on a group of men attempting to flee. Jordanian security forces launched a manhunt for the three suspects on Saturday. The attack occurred in Karak governorate, located 120 kilometers south of Amman. The region is home to many of Jordan's approximately 300,000 Christians, in a country with a total population of 11.5 million.

Taylor Luck, a senior Middle East correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, noted that Jordan's Christians take pride in interfaith solidarity. He observed that Christians and Muslims have lived side by side in Karak for generations. He suggested that if the attack was intended to divide the community, it might instead strengthen local bonds. Condemnations arrived from Azerbaijan, Iraq, Poland, Palestine, and Qatar. Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, called the incident a heinous terrorist attack.

The Prime Minister declared three days of mourning, with flags flown at half-mast over government and public buildings. While such attacks are uncommon in Jordan, the Karak area has experienced violence in the past. In 2016, ISIL fighters carried out a series of attacks in the region, including a siege of a Crusader-era castle that killed 10 people, including a Canadian tourist and seven police officers. Four attackers were killed by security forces after a prolonged standoff.