By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has condemned the “heinous terrorist attack” on a funeral procession at a church in Jordan’s Karak governorate, in which seven people were killed, and pledged its solidarity with Amman.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said Islamabad “strongly condemns the heinous terrorist attack at a funeral procession in a church in Karak Governorate, Jordan, which resulted in the loss of several precious lives, with many injured”.
Pakistan extended its “heartfelt condolences” to the government and people of the “brotherly Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan”, particularly the bereaved families, and wished the injured a speedy recovery. “Pakistan stands in firm solidarity with the brotherly people of Jordan in their fight against terrorism, and reiterates its strongest condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” the statement added.
The attack happened on Friday at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud, about 180km (110 miles) south of the capital, Amman. Jordan’s public security director, Maj Gen Obeidallah al-Maaytah, said 34 people were wounded, 27 of whom were still in hospital. The health minister, Ibrahim al-Budour, put the number of wounded at 40 and said two were in critical condition.
No group has claimed responsibility. A government statement said the assault was “carried out by unknown assailants” but did not say whether any gunmen had been captured or killed. It said “investigations are under way at full speed”. Interior minister Mazin al-Farrayeh said the attackers were extremists, but that it was too early to say whether they had links to any known group in Jordan or abroad. Security forces were still searching for the gunmen after Friday’s press conference in Karak.
Reuters described it as a rare attack on Jordan’s Christian minority. Karak is home to a small Christian community.
Dorgham Halasa, who was among the mourners, said heavy gunfire erupted about 15 minutes after the service began and people began to run. “It was a weird situation, and heavy gunfire,” he said. He did not see the attackers, but said others told him there were four. The Associated Press could not verify the number, and Jordan’s security services have not released details.
Footage broadcast by the state-run Al-Mamlaka television showed two men who appeared to be holding pistols approaching the church and firing. A third man, who appeared to be carrying a semiautomatic rifle, then approached and opened fire, and all three ran towards the church. A witness told the channel that between 150 and 200 people were in and around the building and that most of the victims were aged between 50 and 70. Video filmed by witnesses showed broken glass and pools of blood on the church floor.
King Abdullah II said on X that Jordan “will confront the terrorist act that targeted Karak with the harshest penalties”. He offered his “deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs, and our wishes for recovery to the wounded”. Prime minister Jafar Hassan told a security meeting in Karak on Friday evening that the attack was the product of terrorist ideology and blind extremism. He said the assailants would be punished and that legal measures would be taken against those who sought to spread extremism. The Petra news agency reported that Jordan had declared three days of national mourning.
Condemnation also came from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Oman. Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, the only Christian head of state in the Arab world, called the shooting a “heinous terrorist attack”. Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo, the foremost institution of Sunni Islam, offered condolences to the victims’ families and used the same words. Iraq’s foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, phoned his Jordanian counterpart to affirm what his office called Iraq’s solidarity with Jordan “in the face of terrorism”.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the attack “especially heinous”, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. “The secretary-general also calls for all those responsible to be found and to be held to account,” Mr Dujarric added.
Karak has seen deadly violence before. In December 2016, gunmen ambushed police in a series of attacks across the area, including at the Crusader castle popular with tourists, killing 10 people, seven of them officers, and wounding dozens. Jordanian forces killed the attackers after a long standoff, and Islamic State later claimed responsibility.
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