Three Suspects Captured After Eight Killed in Jordan Church Attack

Three armed suspects were arrested in Jordan on Monday after a search operation in the Karak governorate.

The suspects were located in an abandoned house in the village of Al-Jadeeda. Jordan’s Public Security Directorate stated that the men refused to surrender and opened fire on security personnel. All three suspects were wounded during the exchange of gunfire before they were taken into custody.

A Jordanian government source told Al Jazeera that the confrontation lasted for about three hours. One of the suspects was in critical condition due to the injuries sustained during the fight. The other two sustained serious injuries. No security personnel were killed, and a search of the location found firearms and live ammunition, according to Jordan’s Petra News Agency.

The arrests concluded a search that began after three gunmen opened fire at a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud on Friday. The shooting killed eight people and injured 40, according to the Ministry of Health. As of Monday, 27 injured victims remained in hospitals. The director of Prince Ali Military Hospital in Karak said one patient was in critical condition after surgery.

Government Communication Minister Mohammad Momani described the arrest as a successful joint operation in a statement posted on X. He confirmed that all three suspects were injured and detained after they refused to surrender. The Public Security Directorate said the suspects had met their “just fate” while noting that “Terrorism has no place among us.” The directorate did not name any specific groups linked to the attack.

Karak is home to a large portion of Jordan’s Christian minority, which numbers about 300,000 people out of a national population of 11.5 million. King Abdullah II stated that those responsible for the attack would face the “harshest penalties” and ordered a review of security procedures for responding to such incidents. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said authorities were reviewing the factors that lead young people to embrace violence and would hold accountable anyone found to have participated in the attack.