Nine killed in Karak church attack before Jordan strikes Syria

Nine people lost their lives when gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak last Friday. The attack, which took place in the city located 55 miles south of Amman, also left more than two dozen individuals wounded. The violence shocked the nation and prompted Jordan to declare three days of mourning for the victims.

The Jordanian air force carried out airstrikes against armed groups in Syria in retaliation for the church attack. In a statement, the military said the operation killed and wounded many members of the terrorist groups and destroyed several of their vehicles. The air force did not identify the specific groups targeted or provide the precise coordinates of the strikes.

Syrian state media reported that the strikes hit civilian areas in the southern province of Daraa. The health director for Daraa told Sana, the Syrian national news agency, that at least five civilians died in the attacks. The casualties included women, children, and a 65-year-old man. Syria's government said it had launched an investigation into the Jordanian attacks, despite Jordan claiming the operation was conducted in coordination with Damascus.

Jordanian authorities arrested three men earlier on Monday in connection with the church killings. All three suspects were wounded during a dawn shootout in Karak. The Public Security Directorate identified the men as brothers Hazzah Zaidan Mohammad and Mishal Zaidan Mohammad, along with their brother-in-law, Ahmad Sami Hussein. All three are Jordanian nationals.

Maj Gen Obaidallah Abd Rabbo Al-Maayta, the chief of the agency, described the gunmen as takfiri, a term for Sunni militants who are not tied to any organized group. He noted that a large cache of munitions was found in the abandoned house where the men were apprehended. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya attributed the attack to a terroristic and extremist way of thinking, warning that such incidents will recur if the ideology is not resolved.

King Abdullah II ordered authorities to respond with an iron fist against outlaws of Islam. In a statement on Monday, he vowed that the terrorists would not escape punishment and that no proponent of dark ideologies would be tolerated. Relatives of the victims said the arrests brought some relief. Khaled al-Borqan, a survivor and relative of three victims, told Al-Mamlaka that the news eased the grief of the Jordanian people. Fares Halaseh, an uncle of a victim and also a survivor, added that while the pain remains, the arrests brought joy to the families.