Seven dead in attack on a church in Jordan

Seven people were killed on Friday in a shooting carried out by “extremist” gunmen inside and outside a church in the Karak governorate, south of Amman, according to Jordanian authorities, in a very rare incident in the kingdom.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II described the attack as “terrorist” and vowed to impose the “harshest penalties” on the attackers, who are being pursued by security forces. Authorities stated that the suspects would be arrested swiftly.

Public Security and eyewitnesses said gunmen opened fire on the Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hamoud in Karak, “118 kilometers south of Amman,” where a funeral service was taking place.

The state-run “Al-Mamlaka” channel broadcast a video showing three gunmen firing toward the church before advancing toward the entrance while continuing to shoot.

Earlier, Public Security had indicated that “gunmen dismounted from a vehicle and opened fire during a funeral procession,” noting that the gunmen had fled.

It was reported that “the number of people present during the shooting ranged between 150 and 200 inside and outside the church, most of them aged between 50 and 70.”

Jordanian Interior Minister Mazen al-Farayeh said at a press conference, “We are facing a terrorist operation,” adding that “a group of extremists” had committed “a heinous act, which we have all the details of,” and that “security agencies are working around the clock to track down the attackers.”

Public Security Director Lieutenant General Obaidallah al-Maaytah said during the conference that the Public Security Department is working to “identify the perpetrators of this terrorist act and bring them to justice,” emphasizing that “their arrest will take place in the near future.”

King Abdullah II threatened the perpetrators of the “terrorist act” with the “harshest penalties,” affirming that “we will strike with an iron fist anyone who dares to threaten this country.”

In a video broadcast by the Royal Court, a clip showed one of the injured, a man in his sixties, telling the king, “After God, you are our safety in this land. This land is ours, and we will not leave it; we will not leave it forever.”

For his part, Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, during a security meeting held in Karak governorate, affirmed that “the guilty, criminal, and misguided hands that extinguished the lives of our innocent sons today will not escape punishment.”

He added, “All our agencies are working, and we are mobilizing all our resources to bring the criminals to justice so they receive their just deserts. Our agencies will not hesitate to pursue and arrest them,” threatening to take “the harshest legal measures against anyone who incites fitna (discord).”

Jordanian Minister of Waqf, Islamic Affairs, and Holy Sites Muhammad al-Khalayleh condemned the attack, affirming that “the sanctity of places of worship is inviolable, and violating it is religiously, morally, and nationally unacceptable. What happened is a cowardly terrorist act.” He stressed that “Jordanians, Muslims and Christians, form a single national fabric, and national unity is a red line that must not be violated.”

The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Jordan issued a statement condemning the “terrorist act,” adding, “If the message aims to uproot us from our sacred land and displace us from it, it will only make us more attached to it and more rooted in it.”

It further stated, “We are absolutely convinced that our Jordanian society will remain impervious to every extremist black ideology, and that this criminal act is distant and alien to the moderate Islam of our country.”

For its part, the United Nations condemned the attack. Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric said the Secretary-General “strongly condemns the terrorist attack that targeted a funeral service at a church in Jordan, which reportedly left seven people dead and injured others.”

He added that “the Secretary-General calls for the pursuit and accountability of those responsible for this attack,” noting that “an attack on a place of worship, especially during funeral rites, is an extremely heinous act.”

According to the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism website, Christians make up between 2 and 3 percent of the population, with the majority belonging to the Orthodox denomination.

The Public Prosecutor in Amman, Hassan Al-Abdallat, has “ordered a media blackout on the investigative case related to” the church incident, meaning that media outlets must “refrain from publishing any news or information concerning the subject of the case or the progress of the investigation,” under penalty of legal and judicial accountability.

The Karak Governorate, with a population of approximately 375,000, has a significant Christian presence among tribes such as Al-Hilasa and Al-Hijazin. Christian families are concentrated in specific neighborhoods, such as “the Christians’ Quarter” in the city center.

In 2016, the Karak Governorate witnessed a series of attacks, most of which were attributed to the Islamic State. The deadliest of these was an attack in December that targeted a security center and police patrols, killing ten people, including seven security personnel and a tourist. Four militants who had taken refuge in Karak Castle were later killed during a confrontation with security forces.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, the only Christian head of state in an Arab country, condemned in a statement “the wicked terrorist attack that targeted worshippers at the Karak church in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, resulting in the martyrdom and injury of innocent people.”

He considered that “this criminal act, which targeted places of worship, the sanctity of death, and mourners, is incompatible with all religious and human values,” emphasizing that “terrorism has no religion or homeland; its aim is to disrupt coexistence and sow discord among brotherly communities.”