Jordan Arrests Three in Attack on Orthodox Church
A pre-dawn Karak raid left one suspect critically wounded; King Abdullah vowed an iron fist and met victims of the funeral attack.
Jordanian security forces arrested three Jordanian suspects in a pre-dawn raid on Monday, October 26, 2026, in connection with the deadly attack on a Greek Orthodox church in southern Jordan.
The operation unfolded at an abandoned house in the village of al-Jadeeda in Karak Governorate. The men refused to surrender, opened fire on officers, and were wounded—one critically—before being subdued. No members of the security forces were injured. Firearms and ammunition were recovered at the site.
Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya said the three “were identified early on” and “put up fierce resistance against the security forces, but were ultimately subdued and taken into custody, having sustained severe injuries.” He identified them as “three individuals involved” in the crime.
Linked to the October 23 Church Assault
Officials tied the suspects to the October 23 attack on St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church in Hamoud (also spelled Hmoud), a village in Karak Governorate. Gunmen opened fire during a funeral service, killing nine people and wounding 34 others. Security footage captured three gunmen firing outside the church and then entering the building.
No names or organizational affiliations of the suspects have been made public, and no group has claimed responsibility. Authorities have described those behind the attack as “extremist terrorists” with “no relationship to humanity.” The assault was the second such incident in the region in recent weeks. Christians account for roughly 2 to 3 percent of Jordan’s population, and the violence struck a community long rooted in the land yet numerically small.
Royal Call for an Iron Fist
King Abdullah II ordered an “iron fist” response, declaring that “the terrorists would not escape punishment” and that “no proponent of dark ideologies that divide Jordanians will be tolerated.” He met with victims and held a National Security Council meeting in the wake of the attack and the arrests.
Prime Minister Jafar Hassan ordered three days of national mourning, with flags placed at half-mast. The Public Security Directorate said the raid concluded a “non-stop manhunt,” affirmed that “terrorism has no place among us,” and stated that the suspects had met their “just fate.”
Relatives of the victims spoke of relief mixed with continuing grief after word of the arrests spread. Authorities have not yet disclosed a motive or any wider network behind the funeral shooting that left a Christian village in mourning.