Seven killed as gunmen open fire at Church in Jordan

At least seven people were killed and 10 others injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Church in Jordan’s Karak governorate on Friday.

According to the report by the state-owned television station Al-Mamlaka, Khaled Burqan, a man who had been attending the funeral, said dozens of people had been attending the funeral and two men — one carrying a rifle and another carrying a pistol — opened fire on them for several minutes.

Security forces had deployed at the church and were pursuing the suspects, the station reported. It said two gunmen got out of a vehicle and opened fire during a funeral procession at the Hamoud church in Karak.

Such attacks are extremely rare in Jordan, which is relatively stable but has been increasingly targeted by Iranian attacks this year since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran in February.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack and Jordanian authorities did not say who was responsible. 

Christians make up a minority of Jordan’s population though the country is home to several biblical sites that attract Christian pilgrims from around the world.