Three Men Sentenced to Death for Deadly Church Attack in Jordan
A Jordanian court has handed down death sentences to three individuals responsible for a fatal mass shooting at a Greek Orthodox church last month.
Highlights
- Three individuals received death sentences in Jordan for their involvement in a church shooting.
- The attack, which occurred last month, resulted in nine fatalities and 34 injuries.
- The convicted men were found guilty of "terrorist acts" and propagating the ideology of a terrorist group.
- King Abdullah II of Jordan had pledged a robust response to the assault.
- Following the incident, Jordan announced retaliatory airstrikes against "terrorist organizations" in Syria.
Details
An Amman court has condemned three men to death by hanging for their role in a deadly shooting at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak governorate. The assault, which took place on October 23, targeted a Christian funeral service, claiming the lives of nine people and injuring 34 others. The Jordanian Armed Forces confirmed that the convictions were based on charges including committing "terrorist acts," illegal possession of weapons, promoting a terrorist organization's agenda, and conspiring to execute such acts. The perpetrators, identified as two brothers and their brother-in-law, were apprehended three days after the incident.
Karak, a region within the predominantly Muslim nation of Jordan, is home to a notable Christian population. Surveillance video from the day of the attack depicted three armed individuals approaching and firing upon St. George's Church in the village of Hmoud. After fleeing the scene, the suspects were located in a deserted residence in Karak, south of the capital, Amman. They resisted arrest, initiating a shootout with law enforcement officers, who then injured all three before taking them into custody. King Abdullah II commended the security forces for their persistent pursuit of the suspects. In a statement on X, King Abdullah II declared, "The terrorist attack against Karak will be met with the harshest retaliation. Those who delude themselves into thinking that they can divide Jordanians with their bullets have no chance in the face of our unity."
Why it matters
This judicial outcome underscores Jordan's firm stance against terrorism. The kingdom had previously observed unofficial moratoriums on executions from 2006 to 2014, and again from 2017 until June of the current year. In the aftermath of the Karak shooting, Jordan launched airstrikes against what its military described as "terrorist organizations" in Syria's southern Daraa province, signaling broader regional security implications following the church attack.