Jordan arrests three men suspected of deadly church attack after shootout

Image source, Reuters

Eight of the nine men killed in the attack were buried beside the church on Sunday

Jordanian security forces have arrested three armed men suspected of a shooting attack at a church last week that killed nine Christians and injured 34 other people, officials say.

The Public Security Directorate (PSD) said the unnamed “terrorists” were located before dawn inside an abandoned house in Karak governorate, south of the capital, Amman.

They refused to surrender and opened fire on security forces, who returned fire and wounded all three of them, it added. No security personnel were hurt in the shootout.

No group has yet claimed it was behind Friday’s attack by gunmen on a funeral at St George’s Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hmoud, which is in Karak governorate.

King Abdullah II praised security forces for chasing the suspects “to the very end”.

“We vowed the terrorists would not escape punishment, and no proponent of dark ideologies that divide Jordanians will be tolerated,” he wrote on X.

“We pray that the martyrs’ souls rest in peace and wish the injured a speedy recovery. May God protect and watch over Jordan and its people.”

Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said authorities would hold to account anyone involved in the attack and were “examining every factor that leads youth toward extremism”.

Watch: CCTV footage appears to show gunmen near church

Karak is home to a sizeable Christian community in the Muslim-majority kingdom.

Verified CCTV footage from Friday showed three men holding guns approaching and firing on St George’s church.

A second video showed dead and wounded people lying on the ground amid chaotic scenes.

One man who was at the church told BBC Arabic that the attack lasted around 15 minutes.

“Some [people at the funeral] were taking cover, some were cradling the dead, others were holding their sons close, some were grabbing their children and fleeing, while others were holding onto their friends who were with them at the church,” Khalid al-Mdanat said.

He added that the gunmen fled in a pick-up truck, “firing as they went”.

On Sunday, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, visited wounded survivors of the attack, which he condemned as a “vile, cowardly, and bloody act”.

He also led the funeral at St George’s of eight of the victims – Dr Maher Zureiqat, Ihab al-Halsa, Dr Fadi al-Halsa, Dr Khaled al-Halsa, Dr Asim al-Burqan, Alaa al-Masarwa, Marwan Khaitan and Mazen al-Qassous – which was attended by thousands of people.

The ninth victim, Dr Mohammed al-Qassous, was laid to rest near Amman on Monday.

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Seven shot dead by gunmen at church funeral in Jordan, officials say