15 Minutes of Gunfire at Jordan Church

Fifteen minutes of sustained gunfire at a church in Hmoud left seven people dead and at least 34 injured on Friday. The attack occurred in the Karak governorate, a region in central Jordan with a notable Christian population. Officials confirmed the toll after initial reports fluctuated between six and seven fatalities.

Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya identified the perpetrators as a "group of extremists" who arrived by car, entered the building, and fled. He described the incident as "painful and horrific" and "unparalleled in the history of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan." Authorities have not yet named the individuals or a group claiming responsibility.

King Abdullah II responded by vowing to "confront the terrorist act that targeted Karak with the harshest penalties." Security forces tightened controls around hospitals in Karak where the wounded were being treated. Roads near the medical facilities were closed, forcing pedestrians to walk to care. The King visited the injured to inspect the response.

CCTV footage reviewed by journalists shows three men approaching the site from a road. Two entered a vehicle entrance, retreated briefly, and returned with a third. All three appeared to carry handguns. After the shooting, the group exited through the main doors and drove away in a pickup truck, firing as they left. Khalid al-Mdanat, a witness inside, noted that people were still fleeing when the gunfire stopped.

Witnesses described chaos inside the sanctuary. Mourners dove under pews and moved away from windows while prayers mixed with screams. One woman reported that the shooting began seconds after a prayer and escalated for ten continuous minutes. When she exited the building, she found bodies scattered across the courtyards. Another witness compared the noise to the start of a war.

Residents near the hospital expressed shock and frustration, with some criticizing the government's approach to terrorism. Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned the event as a "heinous terrorist attack" that violated the sanctity of funeral mourners. The incident marks a rare instance of deadly violence against Jordan’s Christian community in the majority Muslim nation.

The death toll was initially reported as seven, then corrected to six by a government spokesperson, before returning to seven. The attackers remain unidentified. The shooting took place during a funeral service, targeting mourners gathered for the rites.