Images being broadcast on Jordanian state television show two gunmen who appear to be holding pistols approaching the church and firing shots. A third man who appears to be holding a semiautomatic rifle then appears and opens fire, and all three then run toward the church
Reuters, AP Published 23.10.26, 11:36 PM
Security personnel and people gather outside Al-Karak Government Hospital, where some of the injured are receiving treatment after gunmen opened fire during a funeral at Hamoud Church, in Karak, Jordan, October 23, 2026. Reuters
Seven people were killed and 34 wounded in an attack on a church in Jordan's Karak governorate on Friday, the country's public security director said at a press conference, adding that the search for the attackers was continuing.
Jordan's director of public security, Maj. Gen. Obeidallah Maaytah, said at a news conference that 27 of the wounded in Friday's shooting were still being treated.
The shooting took place at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of the capital, Amman. Jordan's interior minister said that a group of "extremists" carried out the attack.
Images being broadcast on Jordanian state television show two gunmen who appear to be holding pistols approaching the church and firing shots. A third man who appears to be holding a semiautomatic rifle then appears and opens fire, and all three then run toward the church.
A government statement said that the attack was "carried out by unknown assailants," but didn't say whether any gunmen were captured or killed. It said that "investigations are underway at full speed."
Karak is home to a minority Christian population. In 2016, gunmen ambushed police in a series of attacks in Karak, including at a Crusader castle popular with tourists, killing 10 people, including seven officers, and wounding dozens. Jordanian security forces killed those gunmen after a long standoff.
King Abdullah II said on X that Jordan "will confront the terrorist act that targeted Karak with the harshest penalties" and offered his "deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs, and our wishes for recovery to the wounded."
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Syria's Foreign Ministry issued statements denouncing the "terrorist attack" and offering condolences to the victims' families and the people of Jordan. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein called his Jordanian counterpart and "affirmed Iraq's solidarity with Jordan in the face of terrorism," Hussein's office said in a statement.
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