Jordanian Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya revealed that one of the perpetrators of the Karak terrorist attack had prevented his daughters from attending school, believing that educating girls was forbidden.
Al-Faraya said Monday that the attack, carried out by three individuals who opened fire on mourners as they left a church, resulted in the martyrdom of nine people and injured 40 others.
He said preliminary indicators, including the targeting of churches and Christians and the cold-blooded killings, indicate that the perpetrators held takfiri extremist ideology, describing it as “dark, ISIS-inspired and terrorist.”
Al-Faraya said this ideology overlaps with the beliefs of known terrorist groups in the region, including ISIS and al-Qaeda. He explained that the perpetrators’ relationship with such groups could involve formal membership, direct contacts, or exposure to their ideology through videos and publications.
He stressed that preliminary investigations have not yet determined whether the perpetrators belonged to an organized group or an internal or external cell, or whether they had direct links to other parties.
Speaking to Al-Mamlaka, the interior minister said no extensive interrogation had yet been conducted with the perpetrators of the Hamoud Church attack, and that only preliminary statements had been taken.
He confirmed that the perpetrators had planned in advance to carry out an attack at a specific time and had obtained the weapons through smuggling.
Al-Faraya also said the vehicle shown in a video documenting the terrorist attack targeting mourners near a church in Karak belonged to the family of one of the perpetrators and was not registered in his personal name. He added that investigations would determine whether other individuals had helped facilitate the attack.
The terrorist attack targeting St. George Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hamoud, Karak Governorate, on Friday, October 23, 2026, during a funeral ceremony, resulted in the martyrdom of nine people and injuries to others.
The Public Security Directorate announced early Monday that the three perpetrators had been arrested after their location was identified inside an abandoned house in Karak. The arrests followed search operations, sweeps and security and intelligence investigations that had continued since the attack.
The directorate said the perpetrators refused to surrender and opened fire at security forces before they were subdued and arrested after all three were wounded. No security personnel were injured.
Al-Faraya said the government is reviewing the circumstances that contribute to youth radicalization as part of its response to the attack and efforts to address the root causes of extremism.
