Jordan’s King Abdullah orders firm response after deadly church attack

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkA member of security personnel stands outside St George’s Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hamoud in Karak, Jordan, where gunmen opened fire during a funeral on Friday [Alaa Al Sukhni/Reuters]By Al Jazeera Staff and ReutersPublished On 24 Oct 202624 Oct 2026Jordan’s King Abdullah has ordered security forces to respond firmly and pursue those behind a church attack in the Karak governorate that killed eight people and wounded 40, the royal court has said.The country has already increased security across malls, foreign embassies and other locations across the country in response to the attack, according to the US embassy in Amman, as authorities continue to search for the perpetrators.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘Every day could cost lives’: UK government blocks Gaza families’ reunionlist 2 of 3WW1 to Houthis: British jets for Saudi Arabia build on long military bondlist 3 of 3From one house to villages: Israeli settlers have Palestinians surroundedend of listOn Friday, assailants fired for several minutes in broad daylight during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak governorate, about 120km (75 miles) southwest of the capital, Amman, in what Jordanian authorities described as an “act of extremist terrorism”.There was no immediate claim of responsibility, as Jordan declared three days of national mourning, according to the kingdom’s Petra News Agency.King Abdullah, a US partner in the fight against violent armed groups in the region, visited Karak hours after the attack and said the perpetrators would be punished “with an iron fist”.Prime Minister Jafar Hassan said on X that the attack was “a result of a terrorist ideology and blind extremism”.“We will not allow society to go down this path,” he added.Search for attackersAuthorities said they were still searching for the attackers, adding that it was too early to determine whether they had links to known groups inside or outside Jordan.Video footage showed police patrolling outside the church on Saturday.The grounds of St George’s Greek Orthodox is cordoned off on October 24, 2026 [Alaa Al Sukhni/Reuters]Nasser al-Burqan, a survivor of the attack, told the Reuters news agency that one of the attackers, standing about two metres (6.5 feet) away, pointed a handgun at him and opened fire on Friday.A short while later, his son, who also attended the mass, called him to say he had been shot in the leg and was being treated in hospital.“When everything finally quietened down, I looked out the window behind me, and I saw two [assailants] — one was masked, the other was not; he was carrying a handgun,” said al-Burqan, a lawyer.“A massacre, a massacre in every sense of the word,” said Tarek Ammarin at a hospital where the wounded were being treated. A relative of Ammarin’s was injured in the attack.Bahjat al-Rushda, mayor of Shihan village in Karak, joined a list of officials condemning what he called a “wicked” attack.“God willing, this country will remain safe,” he said.Such attacks are rare in Jordan, although authorities in the US-allied kingdom say they have repeatedly foiled plots by violent groups motivated by a strict interpretation of Islam in recent years.Karak is home to a minority Christian population in Jordan, and the country is home to several biblical sites that attract Christian pilgrims from around the world.