Jordan arrests three suspects over deadly shooting attack on church
Officials say three men were wounded in the dawn shootout in Karak; authorities have not publicly identified any possible ties to Islamist terror groups
Jordanian security forces arrested three men Monday for an attack on a Greek Orthodox church that killed nine people and wounded more than two dozen.
The Public Security Directorate said the three suspects were arrested following a dawn shootout and that all three were wounded. No members of the security forces were injured in the operation in Karak, south of Jordan’s capital Amman. Karak is home to a minority Christian population.
The attack on the Greek Orthodox church took place Friday during a funeral.
There is still no claim of responsibility, and no armed group has been accused of the attack.
Jordan’s Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya identified the three men as those responsible for the attack.
“The security services have fulfilled their duties, resulting in the capture of those who carried out this terrorist act,” he said in a phone interview with state TV Al-Mamlaka. “They put up fierce resistance against the security forces, but were ultimately subdued and taken into custody, having sustained severe injuries.”
King Abdullah II, a US partner in the fight against Islamist terror groups, has ordered security forces to respond with an “iron fist” to the rare attack on the Christian minority.
Such violence is highly unusual in Jordan, a relatively stable state in the Middle East, though authorities say they have foiled several plots over the years.
The Public Security Directorate did not publicly identify possible affiliations with any terror groups.