Karak Church Attack: Three Gunmen Sought After Eight Killed

Security forces in Jordan are hunting three men who attacked a church in the Karak governorate on Friday. The Ministry of Health reported that eight people died in the shooting. An additional 40 were wounded. Twenty-seven of the injured remain in hospital. One patient at Prince Ali Military Hospital is in critical condition following surgery.

The violence broke out on Friday afternoon during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud. Survivors said they heard an explosion shortly after the service began. Two attackers arrived in a vehicle. A third man carrying a semi-automatic rifle joined them. The group entered the church and fired for several minutes. They also shot at a group of men outside who were trying to flee.

King Abdullah II ordered a review of the country's security procedures for responding to terrorist attacks. He told the families of the victims that those responsible would face the harshest penalties. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan declared three days of mourning. Flags at government and public buildings were flown at half-mast. Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh blamed a group of extremists but did not name a specific organization.

The attackers have not been identified. Government statements refer to them as unknown assailants. Security camera footage shows the three men shooting outside the church and running toward its entrance. The motive for the attack remains unclear. The director of Prince Ali Military Hospital confirmed that one patient is in critical condition after surgery.

Nasser al-Burqan, a lawyer who survived the shooting, said one attacker stood about two meters away and fired a handgun at him. His son, who was also in the church, was shot in the leg and is being treated in hospital. Tarek Ammarin, who was visiting an injured relative, described the event as a massacre in every sense of the word.

Karak governorate lies about 120 kilometers south of Amman. It is home to many of Jordan's roughly 300,000 Christians. The country has a total population of 11.5 million. Taylor Luck, a senior Middle East correspondent, noted that Christians and Muslims have lived side by side in Karak for generations. He said the community is likely to emerge stronger if the attack was meant to divide them.

International condolences 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 United States embassy in Jordan also offered condolences to victims and survivors. Attacks of this type are uncommon in Jordan, though the region saw violence in 2016 when ISIL fighters sieged a Crusader-era castle, killing 10 people.