Three fugitives sought after eight killed in Karak church shooting

Jordanian security forces are actively searching for three men who escaped after a shooting at a church in the Karak governorate. The Ministry of Health reported that eight people died in the assault and forty were wounded. Authorities have classified the incident as an act of terror, a designation that remains rare for a Christian site in the kingdom.

King Abdullah II reacted to the violence by ordering a comprehensive review of security procedures for responding to terrorist attacks. He also pledged that the individuals responsible would face the harshest penalties. The Prime Minister declared three days of national mourning, with flags flown at half-mast over public buildings.

The attack occurred on Friday afternoon during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud. Survivors reported hearing an explosion shortly after the service began. Two assailants arrived in a vehicle, and a third man joined them carrying a semi-automatic rifle. The group entered the building and fired for several minutes.

Nasser al-Burqan, a lawyer present at the service, described an attacker standing two meters away firing a handgun. His son, who was also inside, later reported being shot in the leg and treated in a hospital. Tarek Ammarin, a visitor to an injured relative, described the scene as a massacre in every sense of the word.

The Petra news agency confirmed that seven victims died at the scene, while a woman died of her injuries hours later. Twenty-seven of the forty wounded remained hospitalized as of Saturday. The director of Prince Ali Military Hospital in Karak stated that one patient was in critical condition following surgery.

Government officials have not identified the attackers, referring to them as unknown assailants. Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh attributed the violence to a group of extremists but named no specific organization. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan linked the attack to terrorist ideology and blind extremism. The specific motive for the shooting remains unclear.

Karak governorate is located 120km south of Amman and serves as a hub for many of Jordan's 300,000 Christians. The region has experienced violence before, including a 2016 series of attacks by ISIL that resulted in ten deaths. International condolences arrived from countries including Iraq, Poland, and Qatar, while Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, called the incident a heinous terrorist attack.