Gunmen kill seven at church in Jordan

Gunmen on Friday killed at least seven people and wounded dozens at a church in southern Jordan, with the Jordanian king vowing retaliation for the rare attack on Christians in the majority Sunni Muslim kingdom.

Assailants stormed the compound of a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hammoud in Karak and opened fire, authorities said.

The gunmen got out of a vehicle and started shooting during a funeral procession, the Jordanian Public Security Directorate said in a statement, adding that a hunt was under way for the perpetrators.

People gather outside a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hammoud in Karak, Jordan, on Friday after a shooting.

Photo: AFP

“The terrorist attack against Karak will be met with the harshest retaliation,” Jordanian King Abdullah II said in an English-language post on social media.

“We will strike with an iron fist against those who dare to threaten our nation,” he said.

After authorities gave a death toll of six, Jordanian Director of Public Security Major General Abdullah al-Maaytah said it had risen to seven with 34 injured, 27 of whom were still receiving treatment.

Images from state broadcaster Al-Mamlaka showed the king visiting Karak on Friday evening after the attack.

The Jordanian Royal Court also shared a video showing the monarch at a local hospital in military uniform to check on the wounded.

“This country is ours, and we will not abandon it — we will never abandon it,” an injured man told him.

Footage aired by Al-Mamlaka also showed the moment of the attack.

Two gunmen are seen dressed in casual clothes and brandishing pistols, with a third carrying a long gun, before they open fire on the church from an entrance on the street and charge forwards.

“A terrorist group has carried out a horrific act, one that is condemned in every respect, and the security services are working round the clock to track them down,” Jordanian Minister of the Interior Mazen al-Faraya told a news conference.

“Jordan has been targeted by a terrorist attack carried out by a group of extremists,” he added.

He said the perpetrators had “absolutely no connection whatsoever to human values,” and it “only serves to strengthen the Jordanians’ resolve ... to combat and fight terrorism in all its forms.”