Nine Dead, 40 Hurt: Jordan Detains Three in Church Attack Probe

Jordanian security forces arrested three armed suspects on Monday in connection with a Friday church shooting that killed nine people and wounded 40 others, state television reported. The attack unfolded during a funeral service at a Greek Orthodox church in Hamoud, a village in Karak governorate about 120 kilometres southwest of Amman. Witnesses said the gunfire continued for several minutes.

The Public Security Directorate said its officers tracked the three men to an abandoned house in Karak. The men refused to surrender and fired on the security forces, who returned fire, wounded all three and took them into custody, the directorate said in a statement published on state media. No security personnel were injured in the exchange. Officers recovered firearms and ammunition from the suspects.

Jordanian authorities have labeled the attack the work of "extremist terrorists." No group has claimed responsibility. The directorate has not released the suspects' names or described any links they might have to Islamist militant organizations. The directorate said its statement that "Terrorism has no place among us," and that the suspects had met their "just fate."

King Abdullah, who has worked with the United States against Islamist militant groups, ordered security forces to respond with an "iron fist." Attacks of this kind are rare in Jordan, though officials there say they have disrupted multiple Islamist militant plots over the years. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said authorities are examining what pushed young people toward extremism, and that anyone found to have participated will be held accountable.