Jordanian security forces arrested three people over the unprecedented attack on a Greek Orthodox church that killed nine people and wounded 25 others, state TV reported yesterday.
“Following a joint security operation, specialised investigation and raid teams apprehended the three terrorists responsible for the cowardly terrorist attack,” the broadcaster said on X, adding that all three were wounded during an armed clash.
Gunmen stormed the compound of St George’s Church in the village of Hammoud in Karak governorate during a funeral procession on Friday and opened fire, Jordanian authorities said.
Karak is home to a significant Christian community in the Muslim-majority kingdom, where Christians make up between two and three percent of the population.
“We have apprehended the killers, we are examining all the circumstances that lead young people toward extremism, and we will hold accountable everyone found to have been involved,” Jordan’s Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya said in an X post yesterday.
King Abdullah II, who met with victims after the attack, said during a National Security Council meeting on Saturday that “the security and safety of Jordanians are a red line”, adding that “the hand of justice will reach every terrorist”.
He said on Friday that the shooting would be met with the “harshest retaliation” possible.
Prime Minister Jafar Hassan ordered a three-day period of national mourning from Friday, with flags to be flown at half-mast over government and public institutions.
On Sunday, eight of the nine victims were laid to rest next to the church, in a funeral that drew a huge crowd.
Their flag-draped coffins were carried through the gathered masses, which included numerous religious figures and a large security presence, AFP images showed.