Eight Dead, 40 Wounded in Karak Church Shooting

Jordan’s King Abdullah instructed security forces to hunt down the perpetrators of a shooting that killed eight people and wounded 40 others at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak governorate. The royal court announced the directive on Friday, describing the order as a firm response to the violence.

Gunmen opened fire in broad daylight while a funeral was being held inside the church, located roughly 120 kilometers southwest of Amman. The shooting lasted for several minutes. Jordanian officials labeled the incident an act of extremist terrorism. As of the latest reports, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The monarch traveled to Karak within hours of the gunfire. He stated that the perpetrators would be punished with an iron fist. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan posted on X that the attack resulted from a terrorist ideology and blind extremism. He added that the nation would not allow society to follow that path.

Nasser al-Burqan, a lawyer who survived the attack, described the scene to Reuters. He said one attacker stood about two meters away and aimed a handgun at him. Al-Burqan later learned from his son that the young man had been shot in the leg and was receiving hospital treatment. Al-Burqan looked out a window after the gunfire stopped and saw two assailants, one masked and the other unmasked with a handgun.

Jordan declared three days of national mourning. The US embassy in Amman reported that authorities stepped up security at shopping malls, foreign embassies, and other sites across the country. Officials said it was too early to determine if the attackers had ties to known groups inside or outside Jordan.

Video footage showed police patrolling outside the church on Saturday. At a local hospital, Tarek Ammarin, whose relative was injured, called the event a massacre in every sense. Bahjat al-Rushda, the mayor of Shihan village in Karak, condemned the attack as wicked and expressed hope that the country would remain safe.

Attacks of this nature are rare in Jordan. Authorities have repeatedly foiled plots by violent groups driven by a strict interpretation of Islam in recent years. Karak is home to a minority Christian population, and the country hosts several biblical sites that attract Christian pilgrims from around the world.