Jordan's King Abdullah Orders Firm Response After Deadly Church Attack

Jordan's King Abdullah has instructed the country's security forces to respond firmly and hunt down those responsible for an attack on a church in Karak governorate, the royal court said. Eight people were killed and 40 others were wounded.

In the wake of the shooting, Jordan has stepped up security at shopping malls, foreign embassies and other sites around the country, according to the US embassy in Amman. Authorities are still searching for the perpetrators.

The attack took place on Friday at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, roughly 120km (75 miles) southwest of the capital, Amman. Gunmen fired for several minutes in broad daylight while a funeral was under way. Jordanian officials called it an "act of extremist terrorism."

No group has so far claimed responsibility. Jordan has declared three days of national mourning, the state-run Petra News Agency reported. Officials said it was too early to say whether the attackers had ties to known groups inside or outside the country.

King Abdullah, who is a US partner in the fight against violent armed groups in the region, travelled to Karak within hours of the shooting. He vowed that the perpetrators would be punished "with an iron fist." Prime Minister Jafar Hassan wrote on X that the attack was "a result of a terrorist ideology and blind extremism," adding: "We will not allow society to go down this path."

Video footage on Saturday showed police patrolling outside the church. Nasser al-Burqan, a lawyer who survived the attack, described the moment to the Reuters news agency. He said one of the attackers, standing about two metres (6.5 feet) away, aimed a handgun at him and fired. Later, his son, who was also at the mass, phoned to say he had been shot in the leg and was receiving hospital treatment.

Al-Burqan said that after the gunfire subsided he looked out a window behind him and saw two assailants, one masked and the other unmasked and carrying a handgun.

At a hospital where the wounded were being treated, Tarek Ammarin, whose relative was hurt, called it "a massacre, a massacre in every sense of the word." Bahjat al-Rushda, mayor of Shihan village in Karak, condemned what he described as a "wicked" attack and said: "God willing, this country will remain safe."

Attacks of this kind are rare in Jordan, though authorities in the US-allied kingdom say they have repeatedly foiled plots in recent years by violent groups driven by a strict interpretation of Islam. Karak is home to a minority Christian population, and Jordan contains several biblical sites that draw Christian pilgrims from around the world.