Seven Killed in Attack at Jordan Funeral

A funeral service at a church in central Jordan was interrupted by gunfire on Friday, killing seven mourners and wounding at least 34 others, officials said. The shooting occurred in Hmoud, located in the Karak governorate.

The attackers arrived by car, entered the church, fired upon the congregation and fled the scene. No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the assault.

Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said authorities are pursuing those responsible, whom he described as a "group of extremists". He called the event "painful and horrific" and "unparalleled in the history of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan". King Abdullah II stated that authorities would "confront the terrorist act that targeted Karak with the harshest penalties".

Reports regarding the number of casualties were inconsistent at the outset. Initial accounts stated seven deaths, followed by a government spokesperson citing six, before officials confirmed seven fatalities.

Witnesses described panic inside the building as people took cover beneath pews and moved away from windows. Khalid al-Mdanat, who was present, told BBC Arabic that the violence spanned roughly 15 minutes, with "people trying to flee while the shooting was still active". He stated the gunmen exited through the church doors and departed in a pickup truck, "firing as they went".

Security personnel were stationed at the entrance of a Karak hospital treating the injured, and nearby roads were closed. Residents expressed frustration regarding what they called "a failure to take a tougher approach towards terrorists".

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun condemned the incident as a "heinous terrorist attack" that "violated the sanctity of death and funeral mourners". Karak hosts a sizeable Christian community within Jordan's majority Muslim population, though violence of this nature is rare in the country.