Jordanian security forces arrest 3 men for a deadly attack on a church

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordanian security forces arrested three men Monday for an attack on a Greek Orthodox Church that killed nine people and wounded more than two dozen.

The Public Security Directorate said the three suspects were arrested following a dawn shootout and that all three were wounded. No members of the security forces were injured in the dawn operation in Karak, south of Jordan’s capital, Amman. Karak is home to a minority Christian population.

The attack on the Greek Orthodox Church in Karak took place Friday during a funeral. Three men were reported to have taken part in the attack.

There was still no claim of responsibility, and no armed group has been accused of the attack.

Jordan’s Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya identified the three men as those responsible for the attack.

“The security services have fulfilled their duties, resulting in the capture of those who carried out this terrorist act,” he said in a phone interview with state TV Al-Mamlaka. “They put up fierce resistance against the security forces, but were ultimately subdued and taken into custody, having sustained severe injuries.”

He added that there “are three individuals involved; they were identified early on in the wake of the terrorist incident, and the security services employed all the means at their disposal to apprehend them.”

King Abdullah II directed authorities to respond with “an iron fist” against what he called the outlaws of Islam and anyone attempting to undermine the unity of the Jordanian people.

Omar Akour, The Associated Press