Seven people were killed and 40 injured when attackers opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, Jordan, authorities announced. Karak is located about 180km south of the capital, Amman.
Footage broadcast by Jordanian state television shows two attackers, who appear to be holding pistols, approaching the church and opening fire. A third man then approaches, appearing to carry a semi-automatic rifle, and begins shooting, after which all three run towards the church. Witness footage shows shattered glass and pools of blood on the church floor.
Dorgham Halasa, one of the mourners in the church, said that intense gunfire erupted 15 minutes after the funeral began and that people started to flee. Halasa stated that he did not see the attackers, but that other people told him they had seen four of them. The Associated Press was unable to independently verify the number of attackers.
Jordanian security services did not immediately release details. A government statement said the attack was 'carried out by an unknown perpetrator' and that 'investigations are proceeding at full speed', but did not specify whether the attackers had been captured or killed. Government spokesperson Mohammad al-Momani said that security forces had been deployed to the area following the 'heinous' attack. According to local media reports, dozens of people were in the church for the funeral when the shooting began, and unidentified attackers reportedly arrived by car and began firing inside the church before fleeing.
Health Minister Ibrahim al-Budour said that two of the injured were in critical condition. Jordan declared three days of national mourning, the Petra Royal News Agency announced. Karak is home to a small Christian community. In 2016, attackers ambushed police in a series of attacks in Karak, including one at the Crusader fortress popular with tourists, in which 10 people were killed, including seven police officers, and dozens were injured. Jordanian security forces killed those attackers after a long siege.
King Abdullah II said on X that Jordan would 'respond to the terrorist act targeting Karak with the harshest penalties' and expressed 'deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs and wishes for the recovery of the injured'. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan said during a security meeting in Karak on Friday evening that the attack was the result of terrorist ideology and blind extremism, and that the attackers would be punished and legal measures would be taken against those attempting to spread extremism.
Condemnation of the killings came from across the region, including Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Oman. Ahmed al-Tayeb in Cairo, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, expressed condolences to the families of the victims of Friday's shooting, calling it a 'heinous terrorist attack'. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein called his Jordanian counterpart and 'confirmed Iraq's solidarity with Jordan in confronting terrorism', his office announced. UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack during the funeral as 'particularly heinous', spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, adding that Guterres 'also calls for all those responsible to be found and held accountable'.
