KARAK, Jordan — Gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the Jordanian city of Karak on Friday, killing seven people and wounding 40, authorities said, according to the Associated Press via NPR.
State television aired footage of two men with what appeared to be pistols approaching the church and firing, followed by a third with a semiautomatic rifle. A mourner said heavy gunfire began about 15 minutes into the service. The government said the attack was carried out by “unknown assailants” and did not say whether anyone had been caught.
Health Minister Ibrahim al-Budour said two of the wounded were in critical condition. King Abdullah II visited the injured and said Jordan would confront the “terrorist act” with the harshest penalties. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan blamed extremist ideology.
Jordan declared three days of national mourning. Karak, about 55 miles south of Amman, was also the site of a 2016 attack in which gunmen killed 10 people.
Sources: NPR / Associated Press. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Petar Milošević / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
