Jordan’s military said its air force struck alleged militant groups in Syria on Monday, retaliating for a church attack in Karak that killed nine people on Friday, according to Dawn. The strikes, which Jordan’s military said destroyed several terrorist positions, are the latest step in a case that has drawn national attention.
The Jordanian military said the jets destroyed several terrorist positions and killed and wounded numerous members of groups linked to the church attackers, according to Dawn. Health officials in Syria’s Daraa province said six people, including three children and a woman, were killed in the raids. Syria’s civil defence agency reported seven deaths in total, one of them in Sweida province, according to Dawn. These casualty figures come from Syrian officials and have not been independently confirmed.
Gunmen killed nine people during a funeral service at the Greek Orthodox St George’s Church in the village of Hammoud, in Karak governorate, on Friday, according to Dawn. Public Security Director Major General Abdullah al-Maaytah named three detained suspects as Hazza Zaidan Mohammed, Meshal Zaidan Mohammed and Ahmad Sami Hussein. All three were injured, and one was reportedly in critical condition, according to the state broadcaster Al-Mamlaka, as cited by Dawn.
Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said the attackers were all Jordanians and that there is "no indication of any external contacts or collaboration with foreign parties," according to Dawn. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan ordered three days of national mourning for the victims, with flags flown at half-mast over government and public institutions.
Christians make up between two and three percent of Jordan’s population, and Karak has a significant Christian community. Attacks on houses of worship in Jordan are rare. In 2016, an attack in Karak targeted a security centre and police patrols, leaving 10 people dead. Under Jordanian law, murder is punishable by death by hanging.
The sources differ on whether the strikes were coordinated with Damascus. According to SCMP, Jordan’s armed forces said the operation was conducted in coordination with Damascus. Syria’s government gave a contradictory account, saying it had launched an investigation. Its foreign ministry said Damascus informed Jordan of its "complete reservation" over the strikes without prior coordination, according to SCMP. The sources do not include a Jordanian response to that objection.
The reporting has notable gaps. The account of the Syrian government’s objection and investigation rests on a short excerpt of a single SCMP report. The Hindu’s text matches Dawn’s and adds no new facts, and no independent second source confirms the suspects’ condition. No motive for the church attack is stated in the sources, and there is no information on charges, court proceedings or the suspects’ status beyond hospital treatment.
The sources do not say what comes next. Syria has said it is investigating the Jordanian strikes, and the three suspects are receiving hospital treatment before any legal proceedings.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.