AMMAN, October 24, 2026 (DAILYNWZ) — Seven people were killed and 40 wounded when gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a church in Jordan, authorities said Friday, describing the rare attack on the country’s Christian minority as an act of terrorism and launching a hunt for the perpetrators.
The shooting took place at Hamoud Church in Karak governorate. Public Security Directorate chief Abdallah al-Maaytah said most of the wounded remained under medical care and security forces were still searching for the attackers.
Interior Minister Mazin Al Farrayeh said the assailants were “extremists”, but cautioned that it was too early to determine whether they had links to known groups inside or outside Jordan. No group had immediately claimed responsibility.
Footage aired by state-owned Al-Mamlaka television appeared to show three people firing toward the church from a sidewalk before taking cover behind trees and a low wall. The footage then showed them running toward the entrance.
Khaled Burqan, who attended the funeral, told Al-Mamlaka that dozens of people were present and that the gunmen fired at them for several minutes. Another witness, Ihab Ammareen, said he saw bloodied people collapse after the shooting. “People were crying, wailing, screaming — it’s hard to describe,” he said.
Prime Minister Jafar Hassan condemned the attack in a post on X, blaming “terrorist ideology and blind extremism” and vowing that Jordan would not allow society to be drawn down that path.
King Abdullah visited Karak hours after the shooting and promised a forceful response. “The terrorist attack against Karak will be met with the harshest retaliation,” he said in a statement, adding that those seeking to divide Jordanians through violence would be thwarted by national unity.
Footage from the church after the attack showed blood on the floor near the entrance as security forces deployed at the site.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the violence, saying attacks on civilians and places of worship were unacceptable. US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz called it a “depraved and brutal attack on a house of worship.”
People gathered at a hospital in Karak to support the wounded expressed shock. Hani Al-Mbaydeen said the state needed to investigate the extremist ideas behind the attack, including where they originated and how they reached young people.
Attacks of this kind are extremely rare in Jordan, a relatively stable US ally that has said it repeatedly foiled attempted attacks by Islamist militants in recent years. Christians make up a minority of the population, and the country is home to several biblical sites that draw pilgrims from around the world.
Jordan was among regional US allies hit by Iranian attacks this year after Washington and Israel launched strikes against Iran in February.