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Gunmen reportedly attack Christian funeral at church in Karak, Jordan

Developing: multiple reports and social-media posts say gunmen opened fire during a Christian funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, southern Jordan, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens. The casualty figures have varied across reports, and Jordanian authorities had not publicly finalized the toll at the time of reporting.

Among the earliest detailed accounts, Reuters reported that the state-owned television station Al-Mamlaka said at least seven people were killed and 10 others injured when gunmen opened fire during a funeral at the Hamoud church in Karak governorate. Reuters said security forces were deployed to the church and were pursuing suspects, and that a witness described two men — one carrying a rifle and another carrying a pistol — opening fire for several minutes.

The Washington Post reported later that at least seven people were killed and 34 were injured, citing footage from state-owned Al-Mamlaka TV that appeared to show three gunmen opening fire at the entrance of the church before storming in. The Post said officials described the attack as a terrorist act targeting Christians.

Other outlets and religious news services reported different early casualty figures as the situation developed. Vatican News reported that local media initially cited ten injured, while DW reported that Jordan’s public security director said seven were dead and 34 wounded. Al Jazeera reported that state-owned television said security forces had been deployed and were pursuing two suspects.

Social-media posts shared on X also described the same incident in Karak, but those posts do not by themselves establish official confirmation. One post from a_amayreh said gunmen shot and killed at least seven people during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the Jordanian Christian village of Hamoud, Karak. Another post, from AbrahamzSeed, similarly said at least seven people had been killed in a shooting attack inside a church in Karak, Jordan, with several others injured. A digest post from 0xzxcom also repeated the account, saying King Abdullah II called it an act of terrorism and that a manhunt was underway. Those social posts should be treated as developing claims unless and until independently confirmed.

Karak, about 180 kilometers south of Amman, is home to a longstanding Christian community. Authorities have not publicly clarified the motive, and no claim of responsibility had been confirmed in the material reviewed. The number of attackers also remained unclear in the earliest reports, with accounts ranging from two to three gunmen.

This is a developing story.

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