Jordan charges three Karak church attack suspects with terrorism as State Security Court trial opens
Jordan's State Security Court began trying three men charged over the Oct. 23 attack on a funeral at St. George's Greek Orthodox Church in Karak governorate. The charges include nine counts of terrorist acts resulting in death.
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Jordan's State Security Court on Wednesday, Nov. 4, opened the trial of three men charged in the Oct. 23 attack on a funeral at St. George's Greek Orthodox Church in Hamoud, Karak governorate, Petra, the state news agency, reported. Further hearings are scheduled. At the first session the court heard the defendants' responses to the charges and decided to appoint lawyers for them, Roya News reported. A lawyer for the victims' families, Amer Hussein Al-Halasa, attended.
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the court's attorney general, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Talat Shahaltough, a military judge, said the investigation was complete. Prosecutors had heard witnesses, gathered evidence at the scene, documented the weapons and ammunition used, and questioned the suspects. Under Jordan's 2006 Anti-Terrorism Law, the seven charges include nine counts of jointly committing terrorist acts resulting in death and two counts of terrorist acts using weapons and ammunition. They also include possessing weapons and ammunition for terrorist acts, conspiracy, promoting the ideas of a terrorist group, and acts endangering public order.
Nine people were killed and 34 injured in the attack, The National reported. King Abdullah II told parliament that those responsible "have left our great Jordanian family and betrayed it."
Sources
The National: Jordan church attack suspects charged with terrorism (Nov 3, 2026)
https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/11/03/jordan-church-attack-suspects-charged-with-terrorism/Petra (Jordan News Agency): Trial Begins for Defendants Charged in Karak Church Terror Attack (Nov 4, 2026)
https://petra.gov.jo/en/news/trial-begins-for-defendants-charged-in-karak-church-terror-attackRoya News: State Security holds first session in the case of the terrorist attack on Hammoud Church (Nov 4, 2026)
https://en.royanews.com/State-Security-holds-first-session-of-the-attack-case/
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Corrections and updates
- Update, November 4, 2026: Brief prepared from The National (Amr Mostafa; Nov. 3, 2026), Petra, the Jordan News Agency (Nov. 4, 2026), and Roya News (Nov. 4, 2026). threadId jordan-karak-church-attack-2026. follows jordan-karak-church-attack-suspects-arrested-oct2026. Matthew assigned that threadId to this brief and to jordan-karak-church-funeral-shooting-oct2026 and jordan-karak-church-attack-suspects-arrested-oct2026. The sheet date is Nov. 4, so sourcePublishedAt is 2026-11-04. The brief is in the Nov. 4 edition, so publishedAt and editionDate are 2026-11-04. Sources were re-opened Nov. 4, 2026, so accessedAt is 2026-11-04. Status is REPORTED. Tags are global, church-life, law-courts, and orthodox. law-courts already exists. No persecution tag. Petra is Jordan's state news agency. That is said in the body. The charges, as reported, name no group, and the body names none. The body says seven charges. The body uses Hamoud, as in the earlier briefs, and St. George's Greek Orthodox Church, the earlier briefs' name. No prior Wayback snapshot was found for The National, Petra, or Roya News. Save Page Now was not used. No photo.