Follow-up: Jordan Steps Up Security After Deadly Church Attack; Gunmen Still at Large as King Vows 'Iron Fist'
AMMAN — Security was stepped up at malls, foreign embassies and other locations across Jordan on October 24, the U.S. embassy in Amman said, as authorities searched for gunmen who opened fire at a funeral in a Greek Orthodox church in Hamoud, Karak governorate, on October 23.
Reuters' October 24 report put the death toll at eight, with 40 wounded; GSM's earlier report gave seven dead and 34 wounded, and the figures have since been revised as official updates arrived.
The assailants fired for several minutes in broad daylight during the funeral, in what Jordanian authorities described as an act of extremist terrorism. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Such attacks are rare in Jordan, although authorities in the U.S.-allied kingdom say they have repeatedly foiled plots by Islamist militants in recent years. Bahjat al-Rushda, mayor of Shihan village in Karak, condemned what he called a "wicked" attack. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan said on X: "This is a result of a terrorist ideology and blind extremism and we will not allow society to go down this path." King Abdullah visited Karak hours after the attack and said the perpetrators would be punished "with an iron fist." Reuters video footage showed police patrolling on Saturday outside the Hamoud church, about 120 km (75 miles) southwest of the
capital Amman. "A massacre, a massacre in every sense of the word," said Tarek Ammarin at a hospital where the wounded were being treated; a relative of Ammarin's was injured in the attack. Authorities said it was too early to determine whether the attackers had links to known groups inside or outside Jordan. Christians make up a minority of Jordan's population, and the country is home to several biblical sites that attract Christian pilgrims from around the world.
(GSM, from Reuters and CNN)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：希腊东正教教堂内景，资料图。 / Interior of a Greek Orthodox church (file photo).
