Karak Church Attack: Gunmen Kill Seven During Funeral in Central Jordan

A funeral service at a church in the central Jordanian town of Hmoud turned into a scene of chaos on Friday when gunmen opened fire, killing seven people and wounding at least 34 others. The attack occurred in the Karak governorate, a region with a notable Christian population within the majority Muslim nation. Officials confirmed the toll after a brief period of conflicting reports, with initial figures fluctuating between six and seven before settling on the latter count.

Witnesses described a sudden onset of violence that disrupted the quiet of the service. Khalid al-Mdanat, who was present inside the building, stated that the shooting lasted approximately 15 minutes. He recalled people attempting to flee while gunfire continued, noting that the attackers exited through the main doors and escaped in a pickup truck, firing as they drove away. Another resident compared the sound of the initial exchange to the start of a war. A woman inside the church reported that the gunfire began seconds after a prayer, with the situation escalating for ten continuous minutes before she emerged to find bodies scattered in the courtyards.

CCTV footage reviewed by the BBC shows three men approaching the church from a road. Two of them entered what appears to be a vehicle entrance, briefly retreated, and then returned with a third individual. All three were carrying handguns. The video captures the disarray following the exchange, with dead and wounded individuals visible on the ground. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya identified the perpetrators as a group of extremists during a press conference, describing the event as painful, horrific, and unparalleled in the history of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

King Abdullah II vowed that authorities would confront the terrorist act with the harshest penalties. Security forces established a heavy perimeter around the hospital in Karak treating the wounded, closing nearby roads and forcing commuters to park and walk. Tensions remained high as families gathered to mourn, with many expressing shock and frustration over what they described as a failure to take a tougher approach against terrorists. The king visited the injured later in the day, further tightening security around the facility.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned the incident as a heinous terrorist attack that violated the sanctity of death and funeral mourners. He stated that the violence contradicted all religious and humanitarian values. Jordan has experienced deadly attacks in the past, but such violence remains rare in the country. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the shooting in Hmoud.