The death toll from the Karak Church attack rises.. King Abdullah threatens to respond with an “iron hand” and witnesses recount scenes of horror

The death toll from the attack on a church in Karak Governorate, south of Amman, has risen to nine people, according to what Jordanian Minister of Health Ibrahim Al-Badour announced today, Saturday (October 24, 2026).

The minister said in a telephone call with Agence France-Presse, "The number of martyrs who were killed in the terrorist attack on the church of the village of Al-Hamoud in Karak rose to nine martyrs after the death of the second injured person who was in critical condition today, Saturday."

According to the minister, there are 25 injured people still receiving treatment in hospitals, all of whom are in stable condition.

The minister had previously indicated the death of an injured person who was in critical condition.

The attackers opened fire for several minutes in broad daylight at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak Governorate yesterday, Friday, resulting in deaths and 40 injuries, in a rare attack on the Christian minority in Jordan.

The church priest described how he and others directed people to lie on the ground in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, which is located about 120 kilometers southwest of the capital, Amman. Theodoros Sweis told Reuters, "There was definitely a kind of panic among those present. The shooting was random. You don't know how the shot came."

Jordanian King Abdullah II ordered the security forces to respond "with an iron hand," while the authorities continue to search for the gunmen who opened fire. The Royal Court said that King Abdullah denounced what he described as a "cowardly terrorist crime" while chairing a meeting of the National Security Council, and added, "The blood and dignity of Jordanians is not a place for tampering or exploitation."

No party has yet claimed responsibility for the attack in the Kingdom, which is a major partner of the United States in the goal of combating armed groups. Authorities say they have foiled several militant plots in the past few years.

Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan said in a post on X, "This is the result of Takfiri terrorist thought and the result of blind extremism, and we will not allow society to follow this path."

Christians constitute a minority in Jordan. The country includes a number of religious sites to which Christians come from different countries of the world.

Karak Governorate, with a population of approximately 375,000, includes a significant Christian presence of clans such as the Hilsa and Hijaz. Christian families are concentrated in certain neighborhoods, such as the “Christian Quarter” in the city center.

In 2016, the governorate witnessed a series of attacks, most of which were attributed to ISIS, the most violent of which was an attack that targeted a security center and police patrols, resulting in ten deaths, including seven security personnel and a tourist, in December. Four gunmen who barricaded themselves in Karak Castle were subsequently killed during a confrontation with security personnel.

Jordanian lawyer Nasser Burqan was among those who witnessed the attack. He told Reuters that many people, some of whom were bleeding, tried to hide inside the house of worship, where the funeral of one of his relatives was being held.

He added that when the shooting finally stopped after several minutes, he was able to see the attackers. Burgan said: “I came out of the window behind me... I saw two people... one was masked and the second one was not... he had a gun.”

He added that one of the attackers, who was standing about two meters away from him, pointed a gun at him and fired, and that glass fragments left blood on his face, and that he informed people who wanted to take him for treatment that he was fine.