Attentat dans une église en Jordanie : trois suspects arrêtés

Jordanian security forces arrested three suspects on Monday morning in connection with a deadly attack on a Greek Orthodox church in the southern village of Hamoud, state authorities announced. The arrests followed a multi-day manhunt for the gunmen who opened fire during a funeral service on Friday, killing nine people and wounding dozens more in an incident described by officials as an unprecedented act of terrorism against the kingdom’s Christian minority. The Public Security Directorate stated that the three men were located early on Monday hiding in an abandoned house in the Karak governorate, where the targeted church is situated. According to official statements carried on state media, the suspects refused to surrender and opened fire on approaching officers. Security forces returned fire, wounding all three men before taking them into custody. A government source indicated that the confrontation lasted approximately three hours. One suspect was reported to be in critical condition due to the injuries sustained during the exchange. No security personnel were hurt in the engagement. Following the arrest, authorities seized firearms and live ammunition from the scene. The directorate declined to identify the suspects’ affiliations or confirm whether they belonged to any known militant organization, noting that it was too early to determine links to groups inside or outside Jordan. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The initial assault occurred on Friday when armed men entered the grounds of Saint George’s Greek Orthodox Church in Hamoud, a village located roughly 120 kilometers southwest of the capital, Amman. Witnesses reported that the shooters began firing almost immediately upon entering the area, targeting a funeral procession. Surveillance footage released by state broadcaster Al Mamlaka showed individuals firing from a sidewalk toward the building before moving toward the entrance. Two of the figures appeared to be holding pistols, while a third wielded what looked like an automatic rifle. Witness accounts vary regarding the duration of the shooting, with some stating it lasted five minutes and others describing it as lasting several minutes. Estimates of the crowd size ranged from 150 to 200 people present during the ceremony. Initial reports placed the death toll at seven or eight, but the final count issued by Jordanian authorities stands at nine fatalities. Health Minister Ibrahim al-Bdour confirmed on Saturday that one additional victim died from severe injuries, bringing the total to nine. The number of injured persons has also varied across reports, with earlier counts citing 25 or 26 wounded, while later tallies from the Ministry of Health and international agencies listed 40 injured. As of Monday, 27 of the injured remained hospitalized. The director of Prince Ali Military Hospital in Karak noted that one patient was in critical condition following surgery. King Abdullah II condemned the incident as a terrorist act, vowing that his country would apply the "most severe" penalties to the perpetrators. The monarch visited hospitals in Karak to see the wounded and pledged that the attack would not undermine national unity. Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya stated on social media that the government was examining the circumstances driving young people toward extremism and would hold everyone implicated in the attack accountable. He emphasized that terrorism has no place in Jordan. Government Communication Minister Mohammad Momani praised the security forces for executing a successful joint operation to capture the suspects. The Karak governorate, with a population of approximately 375,000, hosts a significant Christian community. Christians make up about 3 percent of Jordan’s total population of nearly 11 million, a demographic largely composed of Sunni Muslims. The attack prompted the declaration of a three-day national period of mourning, during which flags were lowered to half-mast on government buildings. Hundreds of residents from across the kingdom gathered at the same church in Hamoud on Sunday to attend a funeral service honoring eight of the nine victims. Authorities have imposed restrictions on the dissemination of information regarding the incident. The Attorney General of Amman prohibited the publication of details about the shooting under threat of legal and criminal consequences, with exemptions granted only to official government media outlets supervised by the Ministry of Government Communication. Despite these measures, witness videos showing broken glass and blood on the church floor circulated widely. The stability of Jordan, often viewed as a relative safe haven in the Middle East, has been tested by this event, although officials maintain that similar extremist plots have been thwarted in recent years. The investigation continues as authorities seek to establish the full scope of the plot and any external connections.