Mourners gathered in a small village church in southern Jordan on Friday became the targets of a rare and deadly attack. Gunmen opened fire inside a Greek Orthodox church in Hmoud, in Karak governorate, killing six people and injuring 28, according to the authorities. An early count had put the death toll at seven.
Survivors say the violence began with a loud bang just as the funeral procession was setting off, before masked men forced their way in. One mourner, speaking to state broadcaster Al-Mamlaka, said two attackers, one carrying a rifle and the other a pistol, kept shooting for several minutes. CCTV images checked by British broadcasters seem to show a trio of armed men approaching the church grounds. The assailants escaped by car and are being hunted. No group has claimed responsibility.
King Abdullah II called it a terrorist act and promised the harshest penalties, warning that anyone hoping “the bullets of treachery” could divide Jordanians would fail. Jordan’s head of government called an emergency session of the country’s security council with all ministers. Hours later, the prosecutor general in Amman imposed a gag order barring domestic media from reporting on the investigation.
Jordan, a mostly Muslim country of about 11.5 million, is home to roughly 300,000 Christians, and Karak is known for families of both faiths living side by side for generations. The town is not untouched by extremism, though: in 2016 Islamic State fighters holed up in its Crusader-era castle and killed ten people, including a Canadian visitor.
Analysts note the symbolic weight for the Hashemite monarchy, which presents itself as a custodian of Christian and Muslim holy places in Jerusalem and has long promoted interfaith harmony abroad. An attack on a church funeral cuts directly against that image.
