Eight dead after three gunmen open fire at Jordanian church

For the first time in years, the quiet village of Hamoud in Jordan’s Karak governorate is reeling from a coordinated assault on a place of worship. Three gunmen targeted a Greek Orthodox church on Friday afternoon, killing eight people and wounding dozens of others who had gathered for a funeral. The attack has left local families in shock and triggered a nationwide search for the unidentified assailants, who have not yet been named by authorities.

The Ministry of Health reported that seven victims died at the scene while an eighth, a woman, succumbed to her injuries hours later. Among the 40 injured, 27 remain hospitalized, with one patient in critical condition following surgery at Prince Ali Military Hospital. Survivors described a chaotic scene that began shortly after the funeral service started, when an explosion was heard. Two attackers arrived in a vehicle, joined by a third man carrying a semi-automatic rifle, and proceeded to fire into the congregation for several minutes.

Nasser al-Burqan, a lawyer who survived the shooting, recounted that one gunman stood approximately two metres away and fired a handgun at him. His son, who was also inside, later informed him that he had been shot in the leg and was receiving treatment. Tarek Ammarin, who was visiting an injured relative, described the incident as a massacre in every sense of the word. The violence highlights a rare breach in the kingdom’s relative stability, with the government officially classifying the event as an act of terror.

King Abdullah II expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and vowed that those responsible would face the harshest penalties possible. He also ordered a comprehensive review of Jordan’s security protocols for responding to terrorist attacks. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan labeled the assault a product of terrorist ideology and blind extremism, while Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh attributed the violence to a group of extremists, though no specific organization was identified. The motive behind the attack remains unclear to the public.

Karak, located roughly 120 kilometres south of Amman, is home to a significant portion of Jordan’s Christian population, which numbers approximately 300,000 in a country of 11.5 million. Taylor Luck, a senior Middle East correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, noted that Christians in the region take pride in their long history of interfaith coexistence. He suggested that if the attackers intended to sow division between Christians and Muslims, who have lived side by side in Karak for generations, the community may instead emerge stronger.

International reactions have been swift and widespread. Condemnations arrived from Azerbaijan, Iraq, Poland, Palestine, and Qatar. Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar, described the incident as a heinous terrorist attack, while the United States embassy in Jordan extended its condolences to the victims and survivors. In a show of national unity, the prime minister declared three days of mourning, with flags flying at half-mast on government and public buildings across the country.

This type of targeted violence is uncommon in Jordan, but the Karak region has experienced significant attacks in the past. In 2016, the ISIL group, also known as ISIS, conducted a series of assaults in the area. One of the most notable incidents involved a siege of a Crusader-era castle that resulted in the deaths of ten people, including a Canadian tourist and seven police officers. Four of the attackers from that earlier standoff were eventually killed by Jordanian security forces. The current incident marks a new chapter in the region’s volatile history, with security forces continuing their search for the three men.

As the investigation continues, the focus remains on identifying the perpetrators and determining if they are linked to a specific extremist group. The state channel Al-Mamlaka broadcast footage from security cameras showing the three men firing outside the church and running toward the entrance, as well as shooting at a group of men attempting to flee. The review of security procedures ordered by the king aims to understand how the attack unfolded and to prevent similar incidents in the future. For now, the community in Hamoud is left to process the loss of life and the lingering fear of an unexplained act of violence.