Jordan's King Abdullah II arrived at Prince Ali Military Hospital in Karak in military uniform on Friday to visit surviv...

Jordan's King Abdullah II arrived at Prince Ali Military Hospital in Karak in military uniform on Friday to visit survivors of the deadliest attack on a Christian place of worship Jordan has seen in years. Three gunmen stormed St. George's Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hamoud on October 23 during a funeral service, opening fire on mourners for several minutes before fleeing. Nine people were killed and around 40 others were injured. The king vowed the harshest penalties for those responsible, saying attempts to divide Jordanians would fail. Jordanian authorities have classified the attack as an act of terrorism driven by extremist ideology, though officials say it is still too early to link the perpetrators to any specific known group. The government declared three days of national mourning, with flags flown at half-mast across the country. The attack struck one of Jordan's small Christian communities in the Karak governorate, roughly 120 kilometers southwest of Amman. Jordan's Christians make up a minority of around 300,000 people in a country of 11.5 million. Sectarian violence of this kind is extremely rare in Jordan, which is considered one of the more stable states in the Middle East. Survivors described scenes of chaos inside the church, with gunmen opening fire on mourners gathered to bury one of their own. Jordanian officials were quick to frame the attack as a strike against the entire nation, not just its Christian community, with the government spokesman saying any attack on a Jordanian, regardless of religion, is an attack on Jordanian society as a whole. #Jordan #KarakAttack #GreekOrthodox