What happened in Hamoud
Seven people were killed and 34 others wounded when gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud, in Jordan's Karak governorate. Obaidullah Al-Maaytah, director of the Public Security Directorate, gave the casualty figures at a press conference on Friday, according to Al Jazeera.
Al-Maaytah said most of the wounded were being treated in hospitals. He said the hunt for the attackers continues and promised that "the perpetrators will be caught and our national unity will not be hit".
Survivors told reporters they heard an explosion as the funeral procession got under way. Masked attackers then entered the church and shot at people for several minutes, they said.
What witnesses and state media reported
The state-owned broadcaster Al-Mamlaka reported that security forces went to the church and were pursuing two suspects, who had stepped out of a vehicle and started shooting.
Khaled Burqan, who attended the funeral, told Al-Mamlaka that dozens of people had joined the procession. He said one assailant carried a pistol and the other a rifle.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Reaction from Jordan and abroad
Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya did not name any group. He described the assault as a "terrorist" attack that was "unprecedented", carried out by people with "no relationship to humanity". He also said: "Jordanians have never seen something like this before."
King Abdullah II said on X that the attackers would face "the harshest penalties". He wrote: "The blood of Jordanians is precious, and we will strike with an iron fist against anyone who overreaches against this country."
The United Arab Emirates foreign ministry condemned what it called "terrorist and criminal acts". UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also strongly condemned the shooting, according to his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric. Dujarric said an attack on a place of worship during a funeral procession was "especially heinous".
Background: a rare event in a diverse region
Such attacks seldom happen in Jordan. Christians number about 300,000 in a population of roughly 11.5 million. The country also has several biblical sites that draw Christian visitors from around the world.
Karak lies about 120km (75 miles) south of Amman and has seen violence before. In 2016, an attack claimed by ISIL (ISIS) left 10 people dead, among them security officers and a Canadian tourist, after fighters took refuge in a Crusader-era castle. Security forces eventually killed the attackers.
Taylor Luck, a senior Middle East correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, told Al Jazeera that Karak is home to "Christians and Muslims who have lived side by side for generations". He said the community takes pride in its interfaith coexistence, and that if the aim was to sow division, the community could emerge stronger.
Wider significance for Jordan
Political analyst Xavier Abu Eid told Al Jazeera the shooting matters beyond Jordan's Christian community. He pointed to Amman's role as custodian of both Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, and to what he called its public diplomacy.
King Abdullah has long criticized Israeli attacks on religious sites in occupied Palestinian territory, according to the report. Abu Eid said the attack "goes totally against the message that Jordan wants to give to the world".
