Three Fugitives Sought After Gunmen Kill Eight in Karak Church

Eight people died and 27 others were hospitalized after three gunmen stormed a church in Karak governorate on Friday.

The attack occurred during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud, located about 120 km south of Amman. Survivors reported hearing an explosion shortly after the service began. Two men arrived in a vehicle and were joined by a third attacker carrying a semi-automatic rifle. The group entered the building and fired for several minutes before exiting.

Nasser al-Burqan, a lawyer who survived the shooting, told Reuters that one gunman stood two metres away and fired a handgun at him. His son was also present and sustained a leg wound. Tarek Ammarin, who was visiting an injured relative, described the event as "a massacre in every sense of the word."

Petra news agency reported that seven victims died at the scene, while an eighth woman succumbed to her injuries hours later. Of the 40 people wounded, 27 remain in hospital. The director of Prince Ali Military Hospital in Karak stated that one patient is in critical condition following surgery.

King Abdullah II ordered a review of Jordan's security procedures for responding to terrorist attacks and promised the perpetrators would face "harshest penalties." Prime Minister Jafar Hassan declared three days of national mourning, with flags placed at half-mast on government and public buildings. Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh attributed the violence to a group of "extremists" but did not name a specific organization.

Security forces are currently hunting for the three unidentified assailants. Footage from state channel Al-Mamlaka shows the attackers shooting outside the church and firing at men attempting to flee. The motive for the attack remains unclear, though Jordan's roughly 300,000 Christians reside largely in the Karak region within the country's population of 11.5 million.

International reactions included condolences from the United States embassy and a condemnation from Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar. The attack follows a pattern of violence in the region, including a 2016 siege of a Crusader-era castle by ISIL fighters that killed 10 people.