Nine killed in Karak church funeral shooting

Jordanian authorities captured three armed men on Monday in connection with a deadly shooting at a religious funeral.

The attack occurred on Friday at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud, located in Karak governorate approximately 120 km southwest of Amman. The violence killed nine people and wounded 40 others. Witnesses reported that gunfire continued for several minutes during the service.

State television reported that security forces located the three suspects hiding inside an abandoned house in Karak. The Public Security Directorate stated that the men refused to surrender and opened fire on officers. Security forces returned fire, wounding all three suspects before taking them into custody. The directorate confirmed that no security personnel were injured and that several firearms and ammunition were recovered from the scene.

The directorate described the attackers as extremist terrorists but did not name the suspects or link them to a specific Islamist group. No organization has publicly claimed responsibility for the shooting. King Abdullah has ordered security forces to respond to the rare attack on the country's Christian minority with an iron fist.

Violence of this scale is considered highly unusual in Jordan, a state viewed as relatively stable in the Middle East. Authorities have previously foiled several Islamist plots. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said officials are examining the circumstances that lead young people toward extremism.

Al-Faraya added that anyone found to have participated in the attack would be held accountable. The directorate noted that terrorism has no place among the population and that the suspects had met their just fate.