Jordan arrests three suspects in Karak church funeral attack, then strikes targets in Syria

Jordanian security forces arrested three suspects before dawn on Monday, Oct. 26, in the deadly attack on a funeral at St. George's Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hamoud, Karak governorate. Jordan's Public Security Directorate said the men were found hiding in an abandoned house in the nearby village of Al-Jadida. They refused to surrender and opened fire, and security forces returned fire, wounding all three before taking them into custody. A Jordanian government source told Al Jazeera that the gunfight lasted about three hours and that one suspect was in critical condition. No security personnel were hurt, and weapons and ammunition were seized.

At a news conference, the head of the Public Security Directorate, Maj. Gen. al-Maaytah, named the suspects as brothers Hazza Zaidan Mohammed and Meshal Zaidan Mohammed and their relative by marriage, Ahmad Sami Hussein. According to The New Arab, he said the three Jordanian men held extremist views, lived near Hamoud and decided to attack while following the funeral procession rather than planning it in advance. Interior Minister Mazin al-Farrayeh said investigators had found no sign the suspects were tied to other cells and that anyone who helped them would be pursued. Government Communications Minister Mohammad al-Momani urged Jordanians not to let the attack stir religious division.

On Monday evening, Jordan's air force struck what it called "terrorist organisations" in southern Syria in retaliation for the church attack, the BBC reported. On Tuesday, al-Momani said the strikes killed about 20 Islamic State fighters and acknowledged that some civilians were also killed, Al Jazeera reported. Syria's Civil Defence service said seven people were killed in Daraa and Suwayda provinces, including a man, a woman and three children from one family. Jordan said the strikes were coordinated with Damascus. Syria said it was not notified and closed the Nassib border crossing, the only passenger and commercial crossing between the two countries.

Jordanian authorities say the Oct. 23 attack killed nine people. Petra, the state news agency, and the BBC put the number injured at 34. On Oct. 24, the health ministry had said 40.