Thousands mourn victims of deadly Jordan church attack

Jordan’s prime minister represents king at funeral for eight of the church attack victims as hunt for gunmen continues.

A coffin is lowered during the funeral on Sunday for victims of the church shooting in Karak in Jordan [Alaa Al Sukhni/Reuters]

Thousands of mourners have gathered for the funerals of eight of the victims of a deadly attack on a church in southern Jordan, with Prime Minister Jafar Hassan also in attendance.

The burials on Sunday were beside St George’s Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hamoud, southwest of the capital, Amman, two days after attackers opened fire during another funeral there.

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Nine people were killed and dozens wounded in a rare attack on Jordan’s Christian minority, prompting three days of national mourning.

The ninth victim, Mohammed al-Qasous, is due to be buried on Monday, his family told the AFP news agency.

Coffins wrapped in Jordanian flags were carried through crowds gathered around the church in Karak province, as priests led prayers and security personnel stood guard.

Prime Minister Hassan attended the service alongside government ministers and senior military and civilian officials, according to Jordan’s state news agency, Petra.

Thousands of citizens also participated in the funeral procession, Petra said.

Among those caught in Friday’s shooting was Sahar al-Halsa, who told the Reuters news agency from her nearby home that she sheltered behind a pillar as gunfire erupted and people screamed.

When she rushed outside, she found her cousin Assem lying wounded.

“Assem, Assem, my darling, answer me,” she recalled calling to him. He briefly opened his eyes before dying, she said.

Father Yohanna Hamati told AFP that about 170 to 200 people were at the church for Friday’s funeral when firing began outside.

The mourners initially struggled to understand what was happening, he said, before people began rushing into the church to escape.

By Saturday, bullet holes remained in the walls and wooden pews, and windows had been shattered.

Church workers were cleaning away blood as villagers prepared to bury the dead. Jordanian authorities have described the attack as “extremist terrorism”.

King Abdullah, who visited some of the wounded in hospital on Friday, has promised a forceful response and the assailants are still being sought.

Officials say they have not established whether the attackers were connected to an armed group and no organisation has claimed responsibility.

The violence has also drawn expressions of solidarity across religious lines. Christians account for about 3 percent of Jordan’s largely Muslim population and AFP reported that Muslims were among those wounded.

Young volunteers visited a hospital in Karak with flowers and a message reading, “Our loss is one”.

The mourning reached Washington, DC, on Sunday, where members of the Jordanian community lit candles outside their country’s embassy.

Jordan’s ambassador to the US, Dina Kawar, told those gathered that efforts to stir religious division were “bound to fail”. Back in Hamoud, Father Hamati appealed for unity, stressing that Muslims had also suffered in the attack.

“We make no distinction between Muslim and Christian,” he told AFP.

约旦首相代表国王出席了教堂袭击事件中八名遇难者的葬礼，与此同时，对枪手的追捕仍在继续。

周日，在约旦卡拉克教堂枪击案遇难者的葬礼上，一口棺材被缓缓放入棺材中。[Alaa Al Sukhni/路透社]

数千名哀悼者聚集在一起，参加约旦南部一座教堂发生的致命袭击事件中八名遇难者的葬礼，约旦首相贾法尔·哈桑也出席了葬礼。

周日的葬礼在首都安曼西南部的哈穆德村圣乔治希腊东正教教堂旁举行，两天前，袭击者在那里举行的另一场葬礼上开枪射击。

列表 1/2：谁是约旦教堂枪击案的幕后黑手？

约旦国王阿卜杜拉下令对致命教堂袭击事件做出强硬回应（共2条，第2条）：约旦国王阿卜杜拉下令对致命教堂袭击事件做出严厉回应

约旦基督教少数群体遭遇罕见袭击，造成9人死亡，数十人受伤，举国哀悼三天。

据法新社报道，第九名遇难者穆罕默德·卡苏斯的家人表示，他将于周一下葬。

在卡拉克省，裹着约旦国旗的棺材被抬过聚集在教堂周围的人群，神父们带领祈祷，保安人员在一旁警戒。

据约旦国家通讯社佩特拉通讯社报道，首相哈桑与政府部长、高级军政官员一同出席了追悼会。

佩特拉表示，数千名市民也参加了葬礼游行。

周五枪击事件的受害者中包括萨哈尔·哈尔萨，她从附近的家中告诉路透社，枪声响起、人们尖叫时，她躲在一根柱子后面。

她冲到外面时，发现她的表兄阿塞姆受伤倒在地上。

“阿塞姆，阿塞姆，我的宝贝，回答我，”她回忆起自己当时呼唤他的声音。她说，他临终前曾短暂地睁开过眼睛。

约哈纳·哈马蒂神父告诉法新社，周五葬礼期间，教堂外突然发生枪击事件，当时约有 170 至 200 人在教堂内。

他说，哀悼者们起初很难理解发生了什么事，然后人们开始涌入教堂逃离。

到周六，墙壁和木制长椅上仍然留有弹孔，窗户也被震碎了。

教堂工作人员正在清理血迹，村民们则准备埋葬死者。约旦当局将此次袭击定性为“极端恐怖主义”。

阿卜杜拉国王周五前往医院探望了一些伤者，并承诺将采取强有力的回应，目前仍在追捕袭击者。

官员表示，他们尚未确定袭击者是否与武装团体有关，也没有任何组织声称对此事负责。

这场暴力事件也引发了跨越宗教界限的声援。约旦人口以穆斯林为主，基督徒约占3%，法新社报道称，穆斯林也在伤者之列。

年轻的志愿者们带着鲜花和一张写着“我们失去的只有一人”的纸条，前往卡拉克的一家医院探望病人。

周日，哀悼之情蔓延至华盛顿特区，约旦侨民在约旦大使馆外点燃蜡烛。

约旦驻美国大使迪娜·卡瓦尔向聚集的人群表示，煽动宗教分裂的企图“注定失败”。在哈穆德，哈马蒂神父呼吁团结，并强调穆斯林在袭击中也遭受了苦难。

“我们对穆斯林和基督徒不加区别，”他告诉法新社。