--- title: "Gunmen Kill at Least Seven at a Funeral in a Karak Church as Jordan Hunts the Attackers" description: "The toll has risen to as many as nine. The assailants remain unnamed and at large, and officials blame “extremist takfiri ideology”" author: "Nate Ledger" published: 2026-10-24T13:39:26Z modified: 2026-10-25T02:01:11Z url: https://rews.cc/a/gunmen-kill-at-least-seven-at-a-funeral-in-a-karak-church-as-d00d65 language: en tags: ["church", "terrorism", "jordan", "gunmen", "christians", "mideast"] publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)" --- # Gunmen Kill at Least Seven at a Funeral in a Karak Church as Jordan Hunts the Attackers *The toll has risen to as many as nine. The assailants remain unnamed and at large, and officials blame “extremist takfiri ideology”* By Nate Ledger · October 24, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/gunmen-kill-at-least-seven-at-a-funeral-in-a-karak-church-as-d00d65 ## In brief - Gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Hamoud village, Karak governorate, Jordan, on Friday - Officials first reported seven dead and 40 wounded; later reports put the toll at eight, then at least nine - State TV footage showed three gunmen; a witness said others reported four, and officials have not confirmed a number - No arrests or claim of responsibility; a government spokesperson blamed “extremist takfiri ideology” - King Abdullah II vowed the harshest penalties and ordered a review of security procedures for terrorist attacks On Friday, during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud in Jordan’s Karak governorate, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of Amman, gunmen opened fire on the mourners. Jordanian officials called it a terrorist attack, and it is a very rare one in a country where violence of this kind against the Christian minority almost never happens. On Saturday the attackers had still not been named or caught, and no group had claimed responsibility. The death toll has moved, as early tolls tend to. On Friday, as [the Associated Press reported via NPR](https://npr.org/2026/10/24/nx-s1-6015414/shooting-church-jordan), authorities said seven people had been killed and 40 wounded. Major General Abdallah al-Maaytah, head of the Public Security Directorate, gave the same figure of seven dead at a press conference, according to [Reuters’ account, carried by the *Kathmandu Post*](https://kathmandupost.com/world/2026/10/24/seven-killed-as-gunmen-open-fire-at-church-in-jordan-in-terrorist-attack-authorities-say), and Health Minister Ibrahim al-Budour put the wounded at 40. On Saturday [Al Jazeera reported](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/24/who-was-behind-the-deadly-church-shooting-in-jordan), citing the health ministry, that eight people had died and dozens were injured. Later on Saturday [Fox News reported](https://www.foxnews.com/world/death-toll-rises-9-church-attack-officials-blame-extremist-islamist-ideology) that Jordanian authorities now counted nine dead, and [CNN also reported](https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/23/middleeast/church-shooting-jordan-intl) at least nine. Counts of the injured differ too: [the *Washington Post* reported 34](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/10/23/shooting-church-jordan-leaves-least-7-people-dead-34-injured/), and AP reported 40. On Friday al-Budour said two of the wounded were in critical condition. On Saturday he said one critically injured patient was still being treated at Prince Ali Military Hospital and remained unstable, Fox reported. The clearest account of the attack itself comes from security-camera footage aired on Jordanian state television. AP described two gunmen, apparently armed with pistols, walking toward the church and firing. A third man, apparently carrying a semiautomatic rifle, then comes up and opens fire, and all three run toward the church. Reuters said the footage, which aired on the state-owned Al-Mamlaka channel, shows the three shooting from a sidewalk while taking cover behind trees and a low wall before they rush the entrance. Reuters said it had verified the video by matching the entry path, the wall around the church and other details. How many attackers there were is not settled. Al Jazeera reported that security forces were looking for three gunmen. Dorgham Halasa, a mourner who was inside, told AP he did not see the attackers himself but that other people said they had seen four. [Asharq Al-Awsat reported](https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5332722-terrorist-attack-church-jordans-karak-leaves-dozens-dead-wounded), citing unnamed sources, that the identities of two attackers had been established, that security forces were still searching for them and for other suspects thought to belong to a terrorist cell, and that the roads into and out of the governorate had been secured. As of Saturday, officials had not confirmed a number. The people inside described it simply. Halasa said heavy gunfire broke out about 15 minutes after the funeral began, and then people ran. “It was a weird situation, and heavy gunfire,” he said. Khaled Burqan, another mourner, told Al-Mamlaka that dozens of people were there and the shooting went on for several minutes. Ihab Ammareen told the station he saw bloodied people fall to the floor. “People were crying, wailing, screaming — it’s hard to describe,” he said. Video taken by witnesses showed broken glass and pools of blood inside the church, and Reuters footage from afterwards showed blood on the floor near the entrance, where security forces had been posted. ## What the state has said King Abdullah II went to Karak within hours and visited the wounded at Prince Ali Military Hospital. In a statement he said the perpetrators would be punished “with an iron fist”. “The terrorist attack against Karak will be met with the harshest retaliation. Those who delude themselves into thinking that they can divide Jordanians with their bullets have no chance in the face of our unity,” he said. On X he offered his “deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs, and our wishes for recovery to the wounded.” According to Al Jazeera, he has also ordered a review of the country’s security procedures for responding to terrorist attacks. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan held a security meeting in Karak on Friday evening. “This is a result of a terrorist ideology and blind extremism and we will not allow society to go down this path,” he wrote on X. Interior Minister Mazin Al Farrayeh said “extremists” had carried out the attack but that it was too early to say whether they were linked to any known group inside or outside Jordan. The government’s first statement said only that the attack was “carried out by unknown assailants” and that “investigations are underway at full speed.” On Saturday government spokesperson Mohammad Momani said the attackers followed “extremist takfiri ideology”, meaning a belief that people who reject a strict reading of Islam are apostates, and that Christians are “part of Jordan’s national fabric,” Fox reported. Jordan has declared three days of national mourning, according to the Petra News Agency. Some background on why this is so unusual. Jordan is a US ally and a relatively stable one, and Reuters reported that its authorities say they have repeatedly foiled attempted attacks by Islamist militants in recent years. Karak has a Christian minority, and the country’s biblical sites draw pilgrims from around the world. The governorate has been attacked before: in 2016 gunmen ambushed police at several sites in Karak, including a Crusader castle popular with tourists, killing 10 people, seven of them officers. Security forces killed those gunmen after a long standoff. This year has also been tense for the region. Jordan was among the US allies hit by Iranian attacks after the US and Israel began striking Iran in February. Condemnation came from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Oman. Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo, called it a “heinous terrorist attack.” Iraq’s foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, called his Jordanian counterpart and “affirmed Iraq’s solidarity with Jordan in the face of terrorism,” according to his office. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called an attack during a funeral “especially heinous,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, and added that Guterres “also calls for all those responsible to be found and to be held to account.” Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, wrote on X that it was a “depraved and brutal attack on a house of worship.” Outside a government hospital in Karak, where people had come to support the wounded, Hani Al-Mbaydeen said this: “What happened today has left people unable to speak or raise our voices. But our only reproach to the state is that it must investigate these dark ideas—where they come from and how they enter the minds of our children.” The review the king ordered is about how the state responds once an attack starts. Al-Mbaydeen was asking about what comes before one. ## Sources - [Jordan investigates deadly church shooting in Karak](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/24/who-was-behind-the-deadly-church-shooting-in-jordan) — aljazeera.com - [Gunmen open fire at a church during a funeral in Jordan, killing 7 and wounding 40](https://npr.org/2026/10/24/nx-s1-6015414/shooting-church-jordan) — npr.org - [Seven killed as gunmen open fire at church in Jordan in 'terrorist' attack, authorities say](https://kathmandupost.com/world/2026/10/24/seven-killed-as-gunmen-open-fire-at-church-in-jordan-in-terrorist-attack-authorities-say) — kathmandupost.com