A gun attack during a funeral in southern Jordan killed seven people and wounded 34 Friday, with King Abdullah II saying the assault would be met with “the harshest retaliation.”
Public Security Director Obaidallah Maaytah said hospitals were treating 27 of the wounded. Authorities said two men fired on a funeral gathering at Hammoud Church, a Greek Orthodox church in Karak. The attackers’ identities and motive had not been made public.
Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya described the attackers as extremists. A witness told Jordanian state media that 150 to 200 people were at the church during the shooting, DW reported. Karak lies about 180 kilometers south of Amman, DW reported.
Jordan’s Royal Court posted images of Abdullah visiting wounded people at a hospital. A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the attack during a funeral at a place of worship “especially heinous.”
EconoTimes’ earlier report on the attack covered the initial casualty count and funeral setting. Government spokesperson Mohammad al-Momani said security forces had opened an investigation.
