Jordan hunts three suspects after church killings

Eight people have died and 40 others were wounded after three gunmen attacked a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud, Jordan, on Friday afternoon. The Ministry of Health confirmed the casualties, and authorities launched an immediate manhunt for the three suspects who remain at large.

The shooting began during a funeral service. Survivors reported hearing an explosion shortly after the service started. Two attackers arrived by vehicle and were joined by a third man carrying a semi-automatic rifle. They entered the church and fired for several minutes before exiting.

Nasser al-Burqan, a lawyer who survived the attack, told Reuters that one gunman stood approximately two metres away and fired a handgun at him. His son, who was also present, sustained a leg wound and was treated in a hospital. Tarek Ammarin, a visitor to the church, described the event as "a massacre in every sense of the word."

The Jordanian government declared the incident an act of terror. Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh attributed the attack to a group of "extremists" without naming a specific organization. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan characterized the violence as a result of terrorist ideology and "blind extremism." The motive for the attack has not been publicly identified.

King Abdullah II ordered a review of security procedures for responding to terrorist attacks. He stated that the responsible parties would face the "harshest penalties." The prime minister declared a three-day national mourning period, with flags at half-mast on government and public buildings.

Karak governorate, located 120km south of Amman, is home to a large portion of Jordan's approximately 300,000 Christians. Taylor Luck, senior Middle East correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, noted that Christians and Muslims have coexisted in the region for generations. He suggested the community may emerge stronger if the attack was intended to divide them. International condolences arrived from Azerbaijan, Iraq, Poland, Palestine, and Qatar. Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, called the event a "heinous terrorist attack."

The 27 wounded patients still hospitalized include one individual in critical condition following surgery at Prince Ali Military Hospital. Seven victims died at the scene, while an eighth person, a woman, succumbed to her injuries hours later. Security forces continue to search for the three unidentified assailants.