AMMAN, October 26 (Aalimi Nation) – Jordanian security forces arrested three men on Monday in connection with a shooting at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak governorate that left nine people dead, the Public Security Directorate said.
The directorate said the suspects were found early in the day hiding in an abandoned house in Karak. They refused to surrender and opened fire on the officers, who returned fire. All three were wounded and taken into custody. No member of the security forces was hurt, and firearms and ammunition were recovered from the men, it said.
The gunmen opened fire on Friday during a funeral at the church in the village of Hamoud, roughly 120 kilometres south-west of the capital. Witnesses said the shooting went on for several minutes. Nine people were killed, and dozens more were wounded; figures for the injured have varied between roughly 25 and 40 in different official and media accounts, and the final number has not been confirmed.
Jordanian authorities have described the attackers as "extremist terrorists". No group has claimed responsibility, and officials have said it is too early to establish whether the men had links to any organisation inside or outside the country. The directorate did not say what group, if any, the suspects belonged to, and it has not yet released their names or ages.
In a statement, the directorate said: "Terrorism has no place among us." Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said the suspects had been identified early and that the security services used "all the means at their disposal" to apprehend them. He said the men put up fierce resistance when officers moved in.
Al-Faraya said the security services had captured "those who carried out this terrorist act". The arrests came three days after the shooting on Friday, October 23, an attack of a kind that is highly unusual in Jordan.
Al-Faraya added that anyone found to have taken part in the attack would be held accountable. He also said authorities were examining what had led young people towards extremism.
King Abdullah II directed the security forces to respond with an "iron fist" to the attack, which was aimed at members of the country's Christian minority.
Jordan is a partner of the United States in efforts against militant groups and is generally regarded as one of the more stable countries in the region. Violence of this kind is rare there, although authorities say they have foiled a number of militant plots over the years.
Investigators are expected to question the three suspects, who were wounded in the shootout, and to establish whether anyone else helped plan or carry out the attack. Officials have not said when the men will appear before a court or what charges they may face. The interior minister's remarks suggest the government is looking at both policing and the conditions that push people towards violent ideas.
