Jordan Strikes Syria After Deadly Karak Church Attack
Jordanian forces arrested three suspects and launched retaliatory airstrikes in southern Syria following a church attack in Karak that killed nine people.
The Government of Jordan launched retaliatory airstrikes in southern Syria on Monday, October 26, following a deadly attack on St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church in Karak. The initial attack, which occurred during a funeral on October 23, killed nine people and wounded at least 34 others from the country's Christian minority.
Jordanian security forces arrested three suspects—brothers Hazzah and Mishal Zaidan Mohammad and brother-in-law Ahmad Sami Hussein—following a shootout in Karak. Officials described the men as adhering to a takfiri ideology but stated they were not tied to an organized group. Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya attributed the massacre to extremist thinking.
The subsequent military operation, named Jordanian Deterrence – Hmoud, targeted alleged terrorist hideouts in the Daraa and Suwayda provinces of Syria. While Jordan claimed the strikes were coordinated with Damascus, the Syrian government denied receiving prior notification, condemned the action, and closed the Nassib border crossing. Syrian officials reported that the strikes killed at least five civilians, including women and children.
International reactions included condemnation from Singapore, where President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong described the targeting of a place of worship as unconscionable and senseless. King Abdullah II vowed that the perpetrators would not escape punishment.
