"At least nine people were killed and another 40 injured after gunmen opened fire on a church in Jordan’s southern Karak province.
The “unidentified” gunmen have not yet been captured, the public security agency said in a news conference adding that the shooting was a terrorist attack against Christians attending a funeral in the town of Hmoud.
“The blood of Jordanians is precious, and we will strike those who transgress against this country with an iron fist,” the king said on X.
The Prime Minister of Jordan Jafar Hassan said all state agencies are working to bring the perpetrators to justice, according to the kingdom’s official news agency Petra.
“What happened in Karak was the result of extremist terrorist ideology rooted in takfir (declaring others to be infidels), and we will not allow society to go down this path,” Petra quoted Hassan as saying.
A witness told state-run Al-Mamlaka television that one attacker was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle, and the shooting continued for several minutes.
Another witness speaking to CNN confirmed that the attack lasted a long time with gunmen shouting “Allahu Akbar” while targeting the courtyard of the church, where most people were standing.
The town has been home to a predominantly Christian community for centuries. On Friday, people had gathered at St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church to mourn the death of a community member.
“Some guys were standing outside the church before two people got out of a vehicle and started shooting,” Tamer Halasa, an eyewitness told Al-Mamlaka television."
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