Follow-Up: Jordan Arrests Three Suspects in Karak Church Attack After Shootout at Abandoned House
Jordanian security forces arrested three men in Karak governorate in southern Jordan early on Monday, October 26, in connection with a shooting at a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church on Friday, October 23, that killed nine people and wounded 40, according to Reuters and the Associated Press. All three suspects were wounded in a shootout during the arrest; no security personnel were injured.
Jordan's Public Security Directorate said in a statement carried by state media that security forces located the three suspects hiding in an abandoned house in Karak. The men refused to surrender and opened fire; security forces returned fire, wounded all three and arrested them, seizing firearms and ammunition at the site. The directorate described the violence as the work of extremist terrorists and said terrorism has no place in Jordan.
The attack took place at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud in Karak governorate, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) southwest of the capital, Amman. Gunmen opened fire during a funeral attended by some 150 to 200 people, and the shooting lasted several minutes. Jordan declared three days of national mourning. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The directorate's statement did not name the suspects or identify any affiliation with a militant group; the Associated Press reported that Jordanian officials said the three men acted independently and were not tied to any organized group.
King Abdullah II ordered security forces to respond with an iron fist to the rare attack on the country's Christian minority and, after the arrests, praised the security forces for pursuing the suspects to the end, saying the terrorists would not escape punishment. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said investigators had identified the suspects soon after the attack, that authorities would hold accountable anyone who took part, and that officials were reviewing the factors that lead young people toward extremism.
Attacks on Christians are highly unusual in Jordan, a relatively stable state in the Middle East, though authorities say they have foiled several Islamist militant plots over the years. The investigation into the church attack is continuing.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：约旦卡拉克省的卡拉克城堡（资料图），袭击发生在同省 Hamoud 村的一座希腊东正教教堂。摄影：Dennis G. Jarvis，CC BY-SA 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Karak Castle in Jordan's Karak governorate (file photo); the attack took place at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud in the same governorate. Photo by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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