Church bells rang out at noon across Jordan on Saturday in remembrance of the victims of a massacre in the kingdom’s south that killed nine people and wounded 40 others during a funeral service on Friday. Source: OSV News.
Mourners gathered at St George’s Orthodox Church in Hammoud, one of Jordan’s small Christian hamlets in the southern area of Karak, when three gunmen reportedly fired continuously for five minutes at them before fleeing the scene. One of those present said up to 200 mourners were in and around the church for the funeral service, adding that most of the victims were aged between 50 to 70 years old.
Another parishioner told CNN that she and others fled and hid behind the church’s altar for safety, fearing she would survive.
The Pontifical Mission Societies (known as Catholic Mission in Australia) is active in Hammoud, and the Christian community in that area provides support and humanitarian care to local parishes.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II condemned the massacre, vowing the “harshest retaliation” against the attackers. The monarch rushed to the area to visit the wounded in local hospitals and to console those whose relatives were lost.
“Every Jordanian life is precious, and we will strike with an iron fist against those who dare to threaten our nation,” King Abdullah said on the social media platform X.
Jordan’s government has called the “unprecedented act” a “terrorist attack” against the entire nation.
“Any attack against a Jordanian, regardless of religion or belief, is an attack on Jordanian society as a whole,” said Mohammad Momani, the official government spokesman, who said the gunmen were driven by extremist ideology.
Jordanian Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice and underscored the strictest legal action against anyone who incites discord or seeks to promote extremism within the community, according to The Jordan Times.
Jordan, which is part of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, received a message from its patriarchs and head of churches expressing “deep sorrow and utter dismay” for the “heinous and inhuman” terrorist attack firing “indiscriminately on innocent worshippers.”
FULL STORY
Jordan reels after terrorist attack on church, King vows ‘harshest retaliation’ (By Dale Gavlak, OSV News)
