Jordan searches for gunmen after deadly church attack

Security forces in Jordan are searching for three suspects after a deadly attack on a church in Karak that left eight dead and dozens injured. The attack, described as an act of terror, was the rarest of its kind at a Christian place of worship in the kingdom. The shooting occurred on Friday afternoon during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud, when two attackers arrived in a vehicle and were joined by a third man carrying a semi-automatic rifle. Survivors said they heard an explosion shortly after the service began, and the attackers went into the church and fired for several minutes.

King Abdullah II offered condolences to the families of the victims and said those responsible would face the 'harshest penalties'. He also ordered a review of Jordan's security procedures for responding to terrorist attacks. The attackers have not been identified, and government statements call them 'unknown assailants'. Security camera footage circulating online and broadcast by the state channel Al-Mamlaka shows three people shooting outside the church and running toward its entrance, and also firing on a group of men outside who were trying to flee.

Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh blamed a group of 'extremists' but named no organization. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan called the attack a product of terrorist ideology and 'blind extremism'. The motive remains unclear. Karak governorate lies about 120 km south of Amman and is home to many of Jordan's roughly 300,000 Christians, in a country of 11.5 million people. Taylor Luck, senior Middle East correspondent at the Christian Science Monitor, told Al Jazeera that Jordan's Christians take pride in interfaith solidarity and coexistence.

Condemnations have come from several countries, including Azerbaijan, Iraq, Poland, Palestine and Qatar. Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, called it a 'heinous terrorist attack', and the United States embassy in Jordan offered condolences to victims and survivors. The prime minister declared three days of mourning, with flags at half-mast over government and public buildings.

Attacks of this kind are uncommon in Jordan, though Karak has seen violence before. In 2016, the ISIL (ISIS) group carried out a series of attacks across the area, including a siege on a Crusader-era castle that killed 10 people, among them a Canadian tourist and seven police officers. Four attackers were later killed by Jordanian security forces after a long standoff.