At least nine people were killed and dozens of others wounded after masked gunmen opened fire on people attending a funeral procession at a church in the village of Hmoud, in Jordan’s southern governorate of Karak on Friday October, 23.
Jordanian Government Communication Minister and Official Government Spokesperson Mohammad Momani condemned the offensive as a cowardly terrorist action, asserting that “this crime is an assault against Jordan as a whole.”
He also described the attackers as “treacherous and extremists,” confirming that they will face “comeuppance thanks to the capabilities” of the Jordanian security forces.
“Jordanian Christians are an integral part of the country’s national fabric and have contributed to its past, present and future,” Momani asserted.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s King Abdullah II vowed that the attack “will be met with the harshest retaliation.”
“The terrorist attack against Karak will be met with the harshest retaliation. Those who delude themselves into thinking that they can divide Jordanians with their bullets have no chance in the face of our unity. All Jordanians, from north to south, are partners in land and fate, and nothing stands between them,” the king wrote on X.
“Every Jordanian life is precious, and we will strike with an iron fist against those who dare to threaten our nation,” he threatened.
In the early hours of Monday, October 26, the Jordanian authorities announced the arrest of the three suspected perpetrators, whose identity was revealed later as Hazaa Zeidan Mohammad, Mashal Zeidan Mohammad, and Ahmad Sami Hussein, two brothers and their relative, who are all Jordanian nationals.
Jordan’s Public Security Directorate (PSD) Director Major General Obeidallah Maaytah clarified that the three men did not plot the attack in advance, but decided to launch the attack when they saw the funeral procession. Yet, he noted that their motive was based on an “extremist ideology” and “terrorism.”
While preliminary investigation findings suggested the three suspects acted on their own, a statement released by the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) on Monday evening linked them to “terrorist” groups in southern Syria.
JAF declared that the Royal Jordanian Air Force carried out an operation dubbed “Jordanian Deterrence – Hmoud” in retaliation for the victims of the church in Karak.
According to the statement, the operation targeted “terrorist hideouts,” involving fighter jets that struck several sites and destroyed a number of vehicles belonging to the targeted groups in southern Syria.
The Jordanian army also noted that the operation, which was carried out in coordination with the Syrian government, resulted in killing and wounding numerous members of those groups.
It is worth noting that Friday’s assault marks the first attack on a church in Jordan.
SANA: 8 civilians including women and children were killed in Jordan’s strikes
Shortly after Jordan announced the launch of the operation, Syrian Arab News Agency SANA reported that eight civilians, including women and children, were killed in Jordanian airstrikes on Rural Daraa.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government affirmed that the operation was carried out “without prior coordination or notification with the Syrian side,” emphasizing “the need to uphold the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic and preserve the security and stability of both brotherly nations.”
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