Jordan sentences three men to death for church attack

A Jordanian court has sentenced three men to death by hanging for a gun attack on a church funeral that killed nine people in the southern Karak governorate last month.

The men attacked St George’s Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hammoud on October 23. Reports differ on the number of people wounded: the BBC put the figure at 34, while Al Jazeera reported 25.

The three convicted men are two Jordanian brothers and their relative by marriage. They fled after the shooting and were arrested three days later. Their names have not been made public.

In a statement on Sunday, Jordan’s military said the State Security Court had convicted the men of terrorist attacks resulting in death, weapons offences, conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and promoting the ideas of a terrorist organisation. One of the men was also convicted of providing funds intended to finance terrorist acts, Al Jazeera reported.

Security camera footage showed three armed men approaching and firing on the church, according to the BBC. Another video showed dead and wounded people on the ground amid chaotic scenes. Why the attackers chose that church remains unclear.

After fleeing, the men were found in an abandoned house in Karak governorate, south of the capital, Amman. They refused to surrender and fired at security forces, who shot back and wounded all three, Jordan’s Public Security Directorate said at the time. No security personnel were hurt in the clash.

King Abdullah II condemned the shooting shortly after it happened. “The terrorist attack against Karak will be met with the harshest retaliation,” he wrote on X. “Those who delude themselves into thinking that they can divide Jordanians with their bullets have no chance in the face of our unity.” He also praised the security forces who pursued the suspects and ordered a review of procedures for responding to attacks, according to Al Jazeera.

Karak is home to a sizeable Christian community. Jordan’s Christian minority numbers about 300,000 in a country of 11.5 million people, Al Jazeera reported.

The week after the church shooting, Jordan carried out an airstrike in Syria that its military said targeted “terrorist organisations” in retaliation. Syrian health officials told state media the strike on a village in southern Daraa province killed five people, including women, children and an elderly man. Jordan said its fighter jets had killed and wounded “several terrorists” but gave no further details.

Jordan said it had coordinated the strike with the Syrian government. Syria said it had received no advance notice.

Executions in Jordan are carried out by hanging. The country observed an unofficial pause in executions from 2006 to 2014, followed by another from 2017 until June this year, according to the BBC.