Gunmen opened fire on mourners at a funeral inside a church in Jordan’s Karak governorate on Friday, killing six people and wounding 28, the country’s Public Security Directorate said in a statement reported by Reuters via the Daily Mirror.
Security forces were deployed to the church and were pursuing the attackers, the state-owned broadcaster Al-Mamlaka reported. It said the gunmen got out of a vehicle and opened fire during a funeral procession at the Hamoud Church in Karak, a governorate south of Amman.
What the footage shows
Al-Mamlaka aired what appeared to be security-camera video mounted on the church showing three people firing on the building from a sidewalk, taking cover behind trees and a low wall before running towards the entrance. Reuters said it was able to verify the video from the entry path and the wall surrounding the church, as well as other details.
Khaled Burqan, who had been attending the funeral, told Al-Mamlaka that dozens of people were present and that at least two men — one carrying a rifle and another a pistol — fired on them for several minutes.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and Jordanian authorities did not say who they believed was behind the attack.
The death toll was revised down
Early reporting put the toll higher. Al-Mamlaka initially reported seven dead, and Hiru News, filing about two hours before the Reuters account, carried that figure in its headline while describing the toll in its text as “close to eight”. Hiru also cited the BBC for a figure of about 10 wounded.
The Public Security Directorate’s statement, issued later, gives six killed and 28 wounded. The casualty figure fell as the authorities took over the count from the broadcaster; the wounded figure rose sharply, which is the usual direction of travel as hospitals report.
Not reported
Neither account identifies the victims, says whether the funeral or the church was the intended target, or reports what the funeral was for. Jordanian authorities have not said whether any suspect has been detained, and no account gives a motive. Jordan has a Christian minority of roughly 2% of the population, concentrated in Amman and the governorates of Karak and Madaba, but no filing links the attack to the victims’ religion.