Gunmen opened fire on a church in Jordan’s southern Karak province, killing at least nine people and wounding 40 more, shocking the country in an unprecedented attack.
Public security officials said at a press conference Friday afternoon that the “unidentified” gunmen had not yet been captured, adding that the shooting was a terrorist attack on Christians attending a funeral in the town of Humud.
Jordan’s King Abdullah said his country would respond “sternly” to those responsible for the “act of terrorism.”
“Jordanian blood is precious and we will strike with an iron fist anyone who violates our country,” the king said on the television show “X.”
Jordanian Prime Minister Jafar Hassan said all state institutions were working to bring the perpetrators to justice, according to Jordan’s state news agency Petra.
“What happened in Karak is the result of an extremist terrorist ideology rooted in takfir (declaring others infidels), and we will not allow society to continue down this path,” Petra quoted Hassan as saying.
The number of casualties has been revised multiple times as more information has surfaced.
Jordan’s Health Minister Ibrahim al-Budour said two of the injured were in critical condition.
Witnesses told state-run al-Mamlaka television that one of the attackers was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and that the shooting continued for several minutes.
Another witness who spoke to CNN confirmed that the attack lasted a long time and that the gunmen targeted the church courtyard, where most people were standing, shouting “Allahu Akbar”.
“It was a massacre…I never imagined I would come out alive,” she told CNN, adding that she had to hide behind the altar with other mourners to survive the attack.
“They attacked people who had gathered to grieve and mourn,” she said. “I never imagined something like this would happen somewhere in Jordan.”
Security camera footage circulating on social media showed three gunmen firing in the street before heading to the church.
The town has had a predominantly Christian community for centuries. On Friday, people gathered at St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church to mourn the deaths of local residents.
“Several men were standing outside the church before two people got out of the car and started shooting,” witness Tamer Halasa told al-Mamlaka television.
Witnesses told state media there were believed to be dozens of people inside the church.
“There were more than 150 of us inside and outside the church,” Halasa added.
Jordanian government ministers and local officials immediately condemned the shooting. Sectarian attacks are rare in Jordan, with the Christian community making up just 2% of the country’s total population.
Hassan has declared three days of mourning, during which all government and public buildings will be flown at half-mast.
The attack drew condemnation from other parts of the region.
“On behalf of the American people, we extend our deepest condolences to the victims and survivors of today’s terrorist attack on a church in Karak, Jordan,” the U.S. Embassy in Jordan said, expressing solidarity with the King of Jordan.
The embassy said U.S. citizens should expect increased police presence in many areas of Jordan, including shopping malls in Amman and foreign embassies.
“We remind U.S. citizens of the need for continued vigilance and encourage them to monitor significant developments from Jordanian authorities, including the Jordanian Directorate of Public Security,” the embassy said in its travel advisory.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed its condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims, the residents of Hammoud, and all those affected by the shooting.
“The national unity of the Jordanian people is a vital safeguard against terrorism, extremism and any attempts to sow division and discord,” the Patriarchate, which heads Catholics in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Cyprus, said in a statement.
Cairo’s Al-Azhar Institute, the premier learning center for Sunni Islam, also condemned the attack.
“This crime is contrary to the teachings of the Abrahamic religions and reveals a complete lack of mercy, humanity and morality on the part of the perpetrators,” the institute’s Grand Imam Ahmed Al Tayeb said in a social media post.
The Iraqi government said the attack “shows that terrorism, which the Iraqi people have suffered and which they have faced with determination and strength, is the root of evil.”
The Iraqi statement added: “We call on all sides to stand united against all voices that threaten public security and undermine civil peace.”
This story has been interrupted and will be updated.
