Jordan tightens security after deadly church attack kills eight

HAMOUD, Jordan – Security was stepped up at malls, foreign embassies and other locations across Jordan, the US embassy in Amman said on Oct 24, as the authorities searched for gunmen who killed eight people and wounded 40 in a church attack.

The assailants fired for several minutes in broad daylight during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak governorate on Oct 23, in what the Jordanian authorities described as an act of extremist terrorism.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Such attacks are rare in Jordan, though the authorities in the US-allied kingdom say that they have repeatedly foiled plots by Islamist militants in recent years.

Bahjat al-Rushda, mayor of Shihan village in Karak, joined a long list of officials condemning what he called a “wicked” attack.

“God willing, this country will remain secure,” he said.

The authorities said they are still searching for the attackers, adding it was too early to determine whether they had links to known groups inside or outside Jordan.

“A massacre, a massacre in every sense of the word,” said Tarek Ammarin at a hospital where the wounded were being treated. A relative of Ammarin’s was injured in the attack.

Reuters video footage showed police patrolling on Oct 24 outside the Hamoud church, about 120km south-west of the capital Amman.

“This is a result of a terrorist ideology and blind extremism and we will not allow society to go down this path,” Prime Minister Jafar Hassan said in a post on social media platform X.

Jordan’s King Abdullah, a major US partner in the fight against militant Islamist groups, visited Karak hours after the attack and said the perpetrators would be punished “with an iron fist”.

Christians make up a minority of Jordan’s population. The country is home to several biblical sites that attract Christian pilgrims from around the world.

Jordan has been among US allies in the region to be hit by Iranian attacks in 2026 after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran in February. REUTERS