Mourners and journalists gather on the rooftop of a Greek Orthodox church during the funeral of victims killed in an attack on the church in Karak
Three people were arrested in Jordan on Monday in connection with Friday’s church attack in the Karak governorate that killed nine people and wounded 40 others.
Jordan’s Public Security Directorate said security forces tracked down the suspects early Monday while they were hiding in an abandoned house. No security personnel were injured in the operation, and firearms and ammunition were seized, the directorate said. Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar, offered condolences to the victims’ families and described the shooting as a “heinous terrorist attack”. Hussein’s office said he “affirmed Iraq’s solidarity with Jordan in the face of terrorism”. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack, describing violence during a funeral as “especially heinous”, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “The secretary-general also calls for all those responsible to be found and to be held to account,” Dujarric added.
The suspects refused to surrender and opened fire on the forces, who returned fire and arrested all three after they were wounded. The statement did not identify the suspects or specify whether they were affiliated with any militant group. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack drew condemnation from across the region, including Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Oman. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein also spoke to his Jordanian counterpart, expressing Baghdad’s support for Amman. India also strongly condemned the attack. The Ministry of external affairs denounced the killings and expressed solidarity with Jordan, while EAM S Jaishankar offered condolences to the victims’ families and wished those injured a speedy recovery. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
Jordan’s interior minister said on Friday that extremists were behind the attack, but added that it was too early to establish whether they had links to known groups inside or outside the country.