Gunmen Kill Nine at Funeral in Jordan Church; Officials Cite Extremist Ideology

Gunmen attacked a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, Jordan, about 55 miles south of Amman, during a funeral on Friday, and the death toll reached nine on Saturday, according to authorities. Reports put the number of injured at more than two dozen to nearly 40. Health Minister Ibrahim al-Budour said one critically injured patient remained in unstable condition at Prince Ali Military Hospital. King Abdullah II called the attack terrorism. Government spokesperson Mohammad Momani said the attackers held an extremist takfiri ideology, which brands people who reject a strict interpretation of Islam as nonbelievers, and stressed that Christians are part of Jordan's national fabric. It is unclear whether the gunmen belonged to any terror group. A survivor said people crawled for their lives and that the gunmen returned to fire more bullets into the dying and at the church facade.

Left-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while alternative/independent and right-leaning outlets had. Fox News, the right-leaning source, leads with the official response: its headline says officials blame an extremist Islamist ideology. It features Momani's remarks, the health minister's update and the king's description of terrorism, and explains takfiri belief by noting that groups such as ISIS have invoked it. It also links to a Bishop Robert Barron piece on a war on Christians. It notes the unclear group affiliation, and a photo caption says seven were killed while the text says nine. The alternative source, AP, takes a distinct angle, leading with the survivor's account of people crawling and gunmen returning to shoot, and its excerpt gives a higher injury figure. The available text shows no disagreement over the basic facts; the difference is official attribution versus eyewitness detail.