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Jordan Church Shooting in Karak Kills Eight at Funeral — AI-generated representative image: Security forces cordon off a church in Karak, Jordan, after a deadly shooting at a funeral.

Editorial Team

Security forces hunt three gunmen after rare terror attack on Greek Orthodox funeral in Hamoud village.

Security forces in Jordan are searching for three gunmen who opened fire at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak governorate on Friday, killing eight people and injuring 40 others, according to Jordan's Ministry of Health. The masked attackers struck during a funeral in the village of Hamoud, in what authorities are calling a rare act of terror against a Christian place of worship.

The attack has shaken a country that prides itself on interfaith coexistence between its Muslim majority and a Christian minority of roughly 300,000 people. King Abdullah II has promised the "harshest penalties" for those responsible and ordered a review of national security procedures for responding to terrorist attacks, underscoring the gravity of an assault that is highly unusual in modern Jordan.

What Happened During the Attack

On Friday afternoon, three masked gunmen opened fire during a funeral service in a Greek Orthodox church in Hamoud village. Survivors reported hearing an explosion just after the service began. Two attackers arrived in a vehicle and were joined by a third carrying a semi-automatic rifle. They entered the church and fired for several minutes.

State news channel Al-Mamlaka reported that security forces were deployed to the church and were pursuing the two suspects who had arrived by vehicle. Security camera footage broadcast by Al-Mamlaka shows three people shooting outside the church and running toward its entrance, while other footage shows the attackers firing on a group of men attempting to flee.

Karak's Christian Community and Past Attacks

Karak governorate lies about 120km (75 miles) south of Amman and is home to many members of Jordan's Christian minority, which numbers about 300,000 in a country of 11.5 million people. Christians and Muslims have lived side by side in the region for generations, and Taylor Luck, senior Middle East correspondent at the Christian Science Monitor, said local residents "pride themselves on interfaith solidarity and coexistence." He added that if the attack was intended to divide the community, it is more likely the community would "come back even stronger."

Such attacks are rare in Jordan. In 2016, the ISIL (ISIS) group carried out a series of attacks across Karak, including a deadly siege on a Crusader-era castle in which 10 people were killed, including a Canadian tourist and seven police officers. Four attackers were later killed by Jordanian security forces following a long standoff.

Casualties and Official Response

Eight people were killed in the shooting, including seven who died at the scene and one who succumbed to her injuries hours later, Jordan's Petra news agency reported on Saturday. Of the 40 injured, 27 remain in hospital. The director of Prince Ali Military Hospital in Karak said one person is in critical condition after undergoing surgery.

Survivor Nasser al-Burqan, a lawyer, told the Reuters news agency that one attacker stood about two metres (6.5 feet) away, pointed a handgun at him and opened fire. His son, also present, was shot in the leg and treated in hospital. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan described the attack as a product of terrorist ideology and "blind extremism," while Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh blamed a group of "extremists" with "no relationship to humanity," without naming any specific group.

Current Status and Next Steps

The identities of the three attackers remain unconfirmed, with government statements referring to them as "unknown assailants," and the motive for the attack remains unclear. The Prime Minister has declared three days of mourning, with flags flown at half-mast over government and public buildings.

Several countries, including Azerbaijan, Iraq, Poland, Palestine and Qatar, have condemned the attack, as have the United States embassy in Jordan and Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo. Security forces continue their search for the perpetrators.