Jordan arrests two brothers and their in-law over deadly church attack

The Jordanian authorities have arrested two brothers and their brother-in-law suspected in an attack that killed nine people and wounded dozens at a church in Jordan’s Karak governorate.

The suspects were located on Monday, October 25, while hiding in an abandoned house in the village of Al-Jadeeda in Karak, Jordan’s Public Security Directorate said.

They refused to surrender and attacked security forces, who returned fire and arrested all three after wounding them, the directorate said in a statement published on state media.

“The perpetrators of the attack on the church were two brothers and the third was their relative by marriage,” Director of Public Security Major General Abdullah Al-Maaytah said at a press conference. He named the three as Hazza Zaidan Mohammed, Meshal Zaidan Mohammed and Ahmad Sami Hussein.
 

On Friday, three gunmen opened fire at a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud in Karak, about ‌‌120km (75 miles) southwest of the capital, Amman, killing eight people and injuring 40, according to Jordan’s Ministry of Health.

Of the injured, 27 remained in hospital on Monday. The director of Prince Ali Military Hospital in the city of Karak said one person was in critical condition after undergoing surgery.

Karak is home to many members of Jordan’s Christian minority, which makes up about 300,000 of the country’s 11.5 million people.