Jordanian security forces arrested three suspects on Monday over an attack on a church last week that killed nine people. Jordan church attack arrests came after a dawn raid and shootout at an abandoned house where the three men had barricaded themselves, authorities said.
The kingdom’s Public Security Directorate said the group refused to surrender and opened fire on security forces. One suspect was taken to hospital in critical condition, while the other two were in stable condition, Jordan’s state broadcaster Al-Mamlaka reported. No security personnel were hurt in the raid.
Al-Mamlaka said on X that specialised investigation and raid teams had apprehended the three men responsible for what it called a cowardly terrorist attack. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya told the broadcaster that the attackers were all Jordanians and had been hiding in a building in a village near the site of the attack.
“There is no indication of any external contacts or collaboration with foreign parties,” al-Faraya said.
Jordan church attack arrests: what the king said
King Abdullah II said security forces had chased the suspects to the very end. In a post on X, he wrote that he had vowed the attackers would not escape punishment, and that no supporter of dark ideologies that divide Jordanians would be tolerated.
Earlier, the king had visited injured victims of the church attack in hospital, dressed in military fatigues and carrying a pistol on his hip. “We will show them,” he vowed at the time.
Government communications minister Mohammad al-Momani said Jordan stood ready to strike with an iron fist, without mercy or leniency, against anyone who tried to undermine the country’s security.
Under Jordanian law, murder is punishable by death by hanging. No charges have been detailed in the reporting so far, and the investigation into the attack continues.
The attack in Karak last Friday
On Friday, gunmen stormed the compound of the Greek Orthodox St George’s Church in the village of Hammoud in Karak governorate during a funeral procession, authorities said. Nine people were killed in the attack.
Karak is home to a significant Christian community in Muslim-majority Jordan, where Christians make up between two and three per cent of the population. That small share makes an attack on a church during a funeral a shock far beyond one village, and it helps explain the scale of the official response that followed.
Prime Minister Jafar Hassan ordered a three-day period of national mourning for the victims, with flags flown at half-mast over government and public institutions.
Eight of the nine victims were laid to rest on Sunday next to the church in a funeral that drew a huge crowd amid a large security presence, according to images from the news agency AFP. The ninth person, Mohammed al-Qasous, was due to be buried on Monday, his family said.
On Saturday, officials at the church were digging a mass grave that was set to become a memorial to the victims.
Why the arrests matter for Jordan
The arrests close the manhunt phase of the case, but they do not close the questions around it. Authorities have said the three men acted without foreign help, yet they have not yet set out a motive in public, nor have they said when the suspects will appear in court.
For Jordan, the case also sits inside a tense regional moment. The country has watched war and strikes spread across the Middle East in recent weeks, and its leaders have repeatedly stressed unity at home. Pakistan condemned attacks on the Makkah and Madinah regions in a separate statement on Monday, while officials from the Makkah defence pact were due to visit Tehran for de-escalation talks.
In that climate, a swift arrest sends a clear message from Amman: attacks on any community in Jordan will draw a full security response. Whether that message holds will depend on what the courts hear next, and on whether the families of the nine victims see the process as open and fair.
The arrests were reported by Dawn.
How many people were arrested in Jordan?
Three suspects were arrested in a dawn raid on Monday, October 26, 2026.
Where did the church attack happen?
The attack happened at the Greek Orthodox St George’s Church in Hammoud village, in Karak governorate, Jordan.
How many people were killed in the attack?
Nine people were killed in the attack last Friday.
