Jordan Raises the Karak Church Toll to Eight as Raids Go On and the Gunmen Stay Free

Jordan woke on Saturday to a higher number and no arrests. The death toll from Friday's attack on a funeral at Saint George's Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hamoud rose to eight overnight, the wounded count reached 40, and the men who did it were still free — with security forces raiding villages across Karak governorate and the kingdom settling into three days of official mourning.

Jordan Raises the Karak Church Toll to Eight as Raids Go On and the Gunmen Stay Free

Hamoud, Jordan — Jordan's health minister confirmed on Saturday 24 October that one of the wounded had died, lifting the toll from seven to eight, a day after gunmen fired for several minutes into a funeral gathering at the church. About 27 patients remain in hospital across five facilities, two of them in critical condition, and no group has claimed responsibility.

The Eighth Death

The eighth fatality was a wounded patient who died after being taken to hospital, according to Health Minister Ibrahim al-Budour, who gave the updated figure on Saturday. His ministry's medical tally is the most granular account of the attack's cost: seven of the dead were received at two facilities — two at Karak Government Hospital and five at Prince Ali bin Al Hussein Military Hospital — and 40 were injured, 14 at Karak Government Hospital and 26 at Prince Ali Military Hospital. Two of those patients went straight into operating theatres in critical condition. Three were later transferred to the Italian Hospital in Karak, and a further 12 patients, nine from Prince Ali Military Hospital and three from Karak Government Hospital, were moved to King Hussein Medical City. The Public Security Directorate's own Friday count had stopped at seven dead and 34 injured, with 27 of the wounded still being treated.

Raids Across Karak

Security forces carried out raids and searches in several villages in Karak governorate, with particular activity in the Mu'tah area, Al Jazeera Arabic reported on Saturday. Asharq Al-Awsat, citing sources it did not identify, said entrances and exits to the governorate had been secured to stop the suspects slipping out. Officials have announced no arrests. Maj. Gen. Obaidullah Al-Maaytah, the director of public security, said on Friday that those responsible "will be caught and our national unity will not be hit", but declined to set any timetable, saying the duration "depends on the nature of the situation".

What Officials Now Say About the Attackers

The official characterisation has not moved beyond ideology. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya called the attack "a terrorist operation" carried out by "a group of extremists" with "absolutely no connection whatsoever to human values," and said it was too early to say whether they had links to known groups inside or outside Jordan. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan described it as the product of a "takfiri terrorist ideology" and "blind extremism". Asharq Al-Awsat went further, reporting that the identities of two attackers had been established and that they were residents of the governorate who knew the timing and location of the funeral. Officials have not confirmed that account, and Maj. Gen. Al-Maaytah called public discussion of suspects' names "premature". At the condolence house in Hamoud, Al-Faraya also denied a rumour that one of the attackers had been released on bail weeks earlier.

Three Days of Mourning

Prime Minister Jafar Hassan issued a formal notice declaring general mourning across the kingdom for three days from Friday 23 October, with flags flown at half-staff over ministries, official departments and public institutions. The order covers Friday, Saturday and Sunday and ends on 25 October. It does not declare a public holiday or suspend work in government or private institutions — the measure is a mark of mourning, not a shutdown. The government expressed condolences to the families of the victims and to the people of Karak, and the Prime Minister chaired a Security Council meeting at the governorate building on Friday evening to follow the response.

The Bells at Noon

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem called for the bells of all churches in Jordan and Palestine to ring at 12 noon on Saturday in honour and mourning of the victims. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in Jordan said that if the attack was aimed at driving Christians out of the holy land, "it will only make us cling to it more firmly and deepen our roots in it," and that the crime is alien to "the moderate Islam of our country." Patriarch Theophilos III called the attack "vile and cowardly" and said the "abhorrent, bloody act will not undermine our national unity." The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem sent condolences to the families, to the residents of Hammoud and to all affected, calling Jordan's national cohesion a safeguard against extremism.

The Royal Family at the Hospital

King Abdullah II visited Karak hours after the attack and went to the wounded in hospital, telling one patient: "the most important thing is to get better and anything you need, we are here for you." In a separate post on X he wrote that "those who delude themselves that they can think to divide Jordanians with their bullets have no chance in the face of our unity." Queen Rania said the crime "pained all our hearts" and that "the tear of Hamoud village and its people is the tear of every Jordanian." Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah posted that "the bullets of cowardly terrorism will not diminish Karak and its history" — a reference to a governorate that has been hit before.

A Region That Has Already Spoken

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack, and his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: "It goes without saying that an attack not only on a place of worship but during a funeral procession is especially heinous." Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo, condemned what he called a "heinous terrorist attack". Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun, the Arab world's only Christian head of state, said the shooting "reaffirms once again that terrorism has no religion and no homeland, and its aim is to strike at coexistence and spread strife." Condemnations also came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Syria, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, the Palestinian leadership, Pakistan, India and the European Union. The US embassy in Amman said security had been stepped up at malls, foreign embassies and other locations across Jordan, and told US citizens to expect a higher police presence.

What Is Still Unanswered

Almost everything that matters. Nobody has been publicly named, nobody has been reported captured, and no claim of responsibility has been made. The number of gunmen is not settled: state television's CCTV footage shows three, one mourner told the Associated Press that others reported four, and the AP said it could not verify the count. Even the geography is contested — outlets place Hamoud anywhere from about 90 kilometres to about 180 kilometres from Amman. Amman's Prosecutor General, Hassan al-Abdallat, has banned publication of the investigation file, including images of victims, and the Public Security Directorate said its Cybercrime Unit was tracking online posts about the case. What is not in dispute is that it happened during a funeral, that families in Karak are burying people this weekend, and that the men who did it are still out there.

By Jessica Ali, Staff Writer

This article was produced with AI-assisted research and editorial support. Photographs: AFP via Getty Images (lead image) and Associated Press. Sources: Reuters, the Associated Press, CNN, Al Jazeera, BBC Arabic, Arab News, CBS News/AFP, Petra (Jordan News Agency), Ammon News, Asharq Al-Awsat and Al Arabiya English.