Jordan strikes militant targets in Syria after church attack kills nine

Jordan's military said on Monday, October 26, 2026, that its air force had struck what it described as "terrorist organisations" in neighbouring Syria, in retaliation for last week's deadly attack on a church in the southern governorate of Karak. The announcement came hours after Jordanian security forces arrested three men accused of carrying out the killings.

In a statement, the military said its jets had "destroyed several terrorist positions" and killed and wounded "numerous members" of groups it linked to the perpetrators of the church attack. It did not give further details of the locations struck.

Syrian authorities reported civilian casualties from the raids. Health officials in Daraa province said six people were killed, among them three children and a woman. Syria's civil defence agency put the total at seven, with one additional death reported in neighbouring Sweida province. The figures could not be independently verified.

The church attack took place on Friday, October 23, during a funeral service at the Greek Orthodox St George's Church in the village of Hammoud, in Karak governorate. Gunmen killed nine people. Karak is home to one of Jordan's largest Christian communities; Christians make up between two and three per cent of the population in the Muslim-majority country.

At a press conference on Monday, Major General Abdullah al-Maaytah, director of Jordan's public security, named the three detained suspects as Hazza Zaidan Mohammed, Meshal Zaidan Mohammed and Ahmad Sami Hussein. Two of the men are brothers and the third is related to them by marriage, he said.

The suspects were cornered at an abandoned house where they had barricaded themselves inside and opened fire on security forces. "All three terrorists have been injured. They have been taken to hospital and are still receiving treatment," General Maaytah said. State broadcaster Al-Mamlaka reported that one suspect was in critical condition and that there were no casualties among the security forces.

Weapons and a large quantity of ammunition were seized from the three, the Public Security Directorate said. "This country must remain an oasis of security and stability, and we affirm that Jordan will remain impervious to anyone who dares to challenge it," General Maaytah said. Under Jordanian law, murder is punishable by death by hanging.

King Abdullah II, who earlier visited wounded victims of the church attack in hospital wearing military fatigues, said in a post on X that security forces had "chased them to the very end". "We vowed the terrorists would not escape punishment, and no proponent of dark ideologies that divide Jordanians will be tolerated," he wrote.

Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya told Al-Mamlaka that the attackers were all Jordanian citizens and had been holed up in a building in one of the villages near the site of the attack. "There is no indication of any external contacts or collaboration with foreign parties," he said. Government Communications Minister Mohammad al-Momani said the authorities stood ready to "strike with an iron fist, without mercy or leniency, against anyone who attempts to undermine Jordan's security".

Attacks on places of worship are rare in Jordan. In 2016, an attack in Karak targeted a security centre and police patrols, leaving 10 people dead.

Prime Minister Jafar Hassan ordered three days of national mourning, with flags flown at half-mast over government and public institutions. Eight of the nine victims were buried on Sunday next to the church, in a funeral that drew a large crowd amid a heavy security presence. The ninth, Mohammed al-Qasous, was buried in south Amman on Monday.