October 25, 2026
Testimonies of survivors and eyewitnesses continue to reveal the details of the armed attack that targeted the Hamoud Church in the Karak Governorate in southern Jordan, turning a funeral ceremony into a bloody scene.
In this context, Al-Arabiya channel reported from one of the injured that the attackers were masked and chanted religious slogans during the shooting, while another injured person confirmed from the hospital bed that the group consisted of four gunmen who attacked the attendees in the church courtyard.
For his part, eyewitness William Hilsa, who was participating in the prayer for his deceased cousin, explained that those present, specifically those who were jumping out of the church, were surprised by the stop of a pickup truck, from which two people got out and began shooting at those present and at the church windows for about four minutes amid attempts to escape. Hilsa indicated that he saw one of the militants wearing a “dishdasha” and reloading his weapon as soon as his ammunition ran out.
In turn, eyewitness Khaled Burgan pointed out that two people arrived in an unidentified car, one carrying a pistol and the other a Kalashnikov rifle, and they opened fire randomly at members of the Hilsa family inside and around the church. Burgan described the attack as “a massacre that has never occurred in the history of Karak Governorate,” estimating the number of those present between 150 and 200 people, and noting that a number of the victims were elderly people whose ages ranged between 50 and 70 years.
In terms of human losses, the numbers conflicted between accounts that spoke of the killing of 8 people and the injury of 28, and statements by the Director of Jordanian Public Security that stated that 7 people were killed and 78 were injured, which leaves the final toll linked to the upcoming official updates.
Following the incident, Jordanian Public Security confirmed the continued prosecution of the perpetrators, warning against circulating any unconfirmed information and adhering to official statements under penalty of legal accountability.
It is noteworthy that Karak Governorate, which is located 118 kilometers south of the capital, Amman, is characterized by a prominent Christian presence that includes clans such as the Hilsa and the Hijaz, in addition to the presence of Christian families in various neighborhoods of the city. While investigations continue to uncover the identity of the attackers and their motives, the testimonies of survivors confirm the horror of the chaos that marked the first minutes of the attack, while awaiting a final security report that determines the official numbers of victims and perpetrators.
