Jordan · Terror attack
Gunmen attack funeral at Jordan church, killing nine; CCTV shows three armed men
Jordan calls the Karak church shooting terrorism and vows the harshest penalties. The attackers are still unidentified and their motive unknown.
Gunmen opened fire on mourners at a funeral at St George's Greek Orthodox Church in Hammoud village, in Jordan's southern Karak governorate, on Friday, 23 October 2026.
Authorities first put the toll at seven dead and 34 wounded. By Saturday it had risen to nine, after two critically injured victims died at Prince Ali Military Hospital, according to Jordan's Public Security Directorate. Some reports citing Jordanian officials put the number of wounded at 40.
The government has called it a terrorist act carried out by extremists and declared three days of national mourning. The attackers have not been identified, and no arrests have been announced.
What the CCTV shows
Security-camera footage aired by Jordan's state broadcaster Al-Mamlaka appears to show two men carrying handguns walking towards the church and opening fire. A third man, apparently armed with a semi-automatic rifle, joins them. The three fire from the pavement, take cover behind trees and a low wall, then run towards the church entrance, The Indian Express reported.
Reuters said it verified the footage from features around the entrance, including the entry path and a boundary wall. The footage alone does not show how many people took part.
What witnesses said
Dorgham Halasa, one of the mourners, told the Associated Press that heavy gunfire broke out about 15 minutes into the funeral and people ran for cover. He did not see the gunmen himself but said others told him four men were involved. AP could not independently verify that.
Another witness, Khaled Burqan, told Jordanian state television that the gunmen kept firing for several minutes at people gathered inside and outside the church.
Amman's response
King Abdullah II said Jordan "will confront the terrorist act that targeted Karak with the harshest penalties". At a National Security Council meeting on Saturday, he called the safety of Jordanians a "red line" and ordered security forces to respond with an "iron fist", ABC News reported.
Prime Minister Jafar Hassan blamed extremist ideology. Interior Minister Mazin Al Farrayeh said it was too early to say whether the attackers had links to known groups inside or outside the country.
The Council of Church Heads in Jordan condemned the attack and said the bond between Jordan's Muslims and Christians would outlast any attempt to divide them. Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun, Syria's foreign ministry and Iraq's foreign minister Fuad Hussein also condemned it.
Karak's history
Karak is home to a Christian minority. It has been hit before. In 2016, gunmen killed 10 people, seven of them police officers, in a string of attacks that included an assault near the town's Crusader castle, a tourist landmark. Security forces killed the attackers after a long standoff.
Raisina Wire analysis
Jordan matters to India well beyond its size. It is a stable, moderate state in a region at war, a partner on counter-terrorism, and home to a sizeable Indian workforce.
An attack on a church in the middle of a funeral strikes at what Amman projects most: social calm and coexistence between faiths. The questions that matter are still open. Who were the gunmen, did they act alone or for a group, and was this a local cell or something with reach beyond Jordan's borders?
Until investigators answer those questions, the attack serves as a warning that extremist violence in West Asia can find even the region's quieter corners. That concerns every country, India included, that relies on Jordan's stability.