Karak Church Attack: Security Forces Hunt Three Suspects

Security forces in Jordan are searching for three men who attacked a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud on Friday afternoon. The assault occurred during a funeral service, killing eight people and wounding 40 others, according to the Ministry of Health. Two attackers arrived in a vehicle while a third entered the church carrying a semi-automatic rifle. They fired for several minutes before leaving the scene.

Nasser al-Burqan, a lawyer who survived the shooting, described standing two meters away from one gunman who fired a handgun at him. His son, also inside the church, was shot in the leg and is receiving treatment in a hospital. Tarek Ammarin, who was visiting an injured relative, called the incident a massacre in every sense of the word. The Petra news agency reported that seven people died at the scene, while an eighth victim, a woman, died hours later from her injuries.

The timeline of the attack began when survivors heard an explosion shortly after the service started. The three gunmen then moved inside and opened fire. Security camera footage broadcast on state television Al-Mamlaka shows the men shooting outside the church and firing at a group of men attempting to flee. The interior ministry has not named a specific organization, referring to the attackers as unknown assailants.

King Abdullah II ordered a review of security procedures for responding to terrorist attacks and stated that the responsible parties would face the harshest penalties. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan described the event as a product of terrorist ideology and blind extremism. Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh attributed the violence to a group of extremists but did not specify which group. The motive for the attack remains unclear.

Current medical records show that 27 of the 40 wounded individuals remain hospitalized. The director of Prince Ali Military Hospital in Karak noted that one patient is in critical condition following surgery. The government declared three days of national mourning, with flags lowered to half-mast over public buildings. Condemnations arrived from Azerbaijan, Iraq, Poland, Palestine, and Qatar.

Karak governorate is located about 120 kilometers south of Amman and is home to a large portion of Jordan's roughly 300,000 Christians. Taylor Luck, a senior Middle East correspondent, noted that Christians and Muslims have lived side by side in the area for generations. The attack occurred in a region with a history of violence, including a series of attacks by ISIL in 2016 that resulted in the deaths of 10 people.