Middle East & North Africa
Jordan: six killed and 28 wounded as gunmen open fire at a Greek Orthodox church funeral in Karak, king vows an “iron fist”
Gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the Christian village of Hamoud, north of Karak in southern Jordan, killing six people and wounding 28. King Abdullah II called it a terrorist attack. No group has claimed responsibility.
Six people were killed and 28 wounded on Friday when gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the Christian village of Hamoud, north of the city of Karak in southern Jordan. The toll was announced by the country’s Public Security Directorate (PSD) through the state news agency Petra. King Abdullah II described the attack as terrorism.
“Those who thought treacherous bullets could divide Jordanians have failed in the face of our resilience and unity,” the king wrote on X, adding that those responsible would face the severest penalties. “The blood of every Jordanian is precious, and we will strike with an iron fist anyone who dares to harm this country,” he said. He offered his condolences to the victims’ families and wished the wounded a swift recovery.
A relative of one of the dead told The National that the funeral was for a woman from the village and that the gunmen arrived in a vehicle, fired on the crowd and fled. An eyewitness told state television Al Mamlaka that the shooting lasted about five minutes, with 150 to 200 people inside and around the church and most of the victims aged between 50 and 70. A member of the Khalasa family told the same newspaper that three doctors were among the dead. Karak lies about 100 kilometres from the capital, Amman, and has a Christian minority.
Gag order and a warning on rumours
The PSD warned that anyone spreading unverified information about the attack could be held to account. The Amman Prosecutor General, Hassan al-Abdallat, imposed a ban on publishing details of the investigation, with criminal penalties for violations. Deputy Prime Minister Walid al-Masri visited the wounded at the government hospital in Karak. No group has claimed responsibility and the authorities have not disclosed the identity of the attackers.
The attack was condemned by the Speaker of Parliament, who demanded no leniency for the perpetrators, and by the Jordanian Press Association, which called it terrorism and stressed national unity. Incidents of this kind are very rare in the country. The attack on a Greek Orthodox congregation will also be followed closely in Greece and Cyprus, given the historic ties between the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which has jurisdiction over Jordan’s Orthodox Christians, and the Greek-speaking Orthodox world.