Shooting at a church in Karak

The jordan church shooting took place at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, about 180km (110 miles) south of Amman, during a funeral service. Authorities said seven people were killed and 40 wounded in the attack.

Jordanian state television footage showed what the attack looked like as it began:

• •two apparent gunmen holding pistols approaching the church and firing shots
• •a third man following them with what appeared to be a semiautomatic rifle
• •all three running toward the church

Witness video later showed broken glass and pools of blood on the floor of the church. Karak is home to a minority Christian population.

Witness and hospital accounts

Mourner Dorgham Halasa said the gunfire erupted 15 minutes after the funeral began and that people started running.

He did not see the gunmen himself but said other people reported seeing four of them; the AP could not verify the number, and Jordan's security services did not immediately release details. Health minister Ibrahim al-Budour said two of those wounded are in critical condition.

Officials vow to pursue the assailants

King Abdullah II said on X that Jordan "will confront the terrorist act that targeted Karak with the harshest penalties", offering condolences to the families of the martyrs and wishing recovery to the wounded.

Prime minister Jafar Hassan said at a security meeting in Karak on Friday evening that the attack was a result of terrorist ideology and blind extremism, and that the assailants will be punished. A government statement attributed the attack to unknown assailants and said "investigations are under way at full speed".

Mourning and international condemnation

Jordan declared three days of national mourning, according to the Petra news agency. Condemnation of the killings came from around the region:

• •Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Oman all condemned the slayings
• •Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo, called it a "heinous terrorist attack"
• •Iraqi foreign minister Fuad Hussein called his Jordanian counterpart and, per his office, "affirmed Iraq's solidarity with Jordan in the face of terrorism"
• •UN Secretary-General António Guterres, through spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, condemned the attack during a funeral as especially heinous and said, "The secretary-general also calls for all those responsible to be found and to be held to account."

Karak saw violence before: in 2016, gunmen ambushed police in a series of attacks there, including at a Crusader castle, killing 10 people, including seven officers, and wounding dozens before security forces killed the gunmen after a long standoff.

The government statement did not say whether any gunmen were captured or killed.