Gunmen Open Fire at Church During Funeral in Jordan, Killing 7 and Wounding 40; Three Days of National Mourning

Gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a church in Jordan, killing seven people and wounding 40 others, authorities said.

The shooting on Friday took place at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of the capital, Amman.

Footage broadcast on Jordanian state television showed two gunmen holding pistols approaching the church and firing shots; a third man holding a semiautomatic rifle then approached and opened fire, and all three ran toward the church.

Video footage taken by witnesses showed broken glass and pools of blood on the floor of the church.

Dorgham Halasa, who was among the mourners inside the church, said intense gunfire erupted 15 minutes after the funeral had started and people started running. 'It was a weird situation, and heavy gunfire,' Halasa said.

He did not see the gunmen, but said other people reported seeing four of them; the number of assailants could not be independently verified, and Jordan's security services did not immediately release details.

A government statement said the attack was 'carried out by unknown assailants', without saying whether any gunmen were captured or killed, and added that 'investigations are underway at full speed.'

Jordan declared three days of national mourning, according to the kingdom's Petra News Agency.

Karak is home to a minority Christian population.

In 2016, gunmen ambushed police in a series of attacks in Karak, including at a Crusader castle popular with tourists, killing 10 people including seven officers and wounding dozens; security forces killed those gunmen after a long standoff.

Jordan's Health Minister Ibrahim al-Budour said two of those wounded are in critical condition.

King Abdullah II said on X that Jordan 'will confront the terrorist act that targeted Karak with the harshest penalties' and offered his 'deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs, and our wishes for recovery to the wounded.'

Prime Minister Jafar Hassan said during 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 and legal measures taken against those who seek to introduce extremism.

Condemnation of the slayings came from around the region, including from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Oman.

Ahmed al-Tayeb in Cairo, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, offered condolences to the victims' families, calling it a 'heinous terrorist attack'; Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein called his Jordanian counterpart and affirmed Iraq's solidarity with Jordan in the face of terrorism.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack during a funeral as 'especially heinous', spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, adding that the secretary-general calls for all those responsible to be found and held to account.

The government says investigations are underway 'at full speed'; identifying the attackers and uncovering the motive behind the attack is now the biggest task before the Jordanian authorities.