The Jordan church attack toll rises to eight dead and 40 wounded, as police hunt the gunmen and security tightens across the kingdom

The search for the men who attacked a church funeral in southern Jordan entered its second day on Saturday, with the toll higher than the first count. Eight people are now confirmed killed and 40 wounded, as of October 24, up from at least seven dead and 34 wounded in Friday’s reporting. Authorities said it was still too early to say whether the gunmen had links to known groups inside or outside Jordan, and no group had claimed the attack.

Picture is an illustration of a village church in southern Jordan at dusk, with candles at its gate.

The American embassy in Amman said security had been stepped up at malls, foreign embassies and other locations across the kingdom. Reuters footage showed police patrolling on Saturday outside the church in Hamoud, a village in Karak governorate about 120 kilometers southwest of the capital. The gunmen fired for several minutes in broad daylight on Friday during a funeral at the Greek Orthodox church, then fled.

“A massacre, a massacre in every sense of the word,” said Tarek Ammarin, whose relative was wounded, speaking at a hospital where the injured are being treated. Bahjat al Rushda, the mayor of the nearby village of Shihan, joined officials across the country condemning what he called a wicked attack. “God willing, this country will remain secure,” he said.

Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, who on Friday blamed extremist terrorist ideology rooted in takfir and declared three days of mourning, repeated the charge on X. “This is a result of a terrorist ideology and blind extremism and we will not allow society to go down this path,” he wrote. King Abdullah visited Karak hours after the attack and said the men responsible would be punished with an iron fist.

Attacks of this kind are rare in Jordan. The kingdom is a close American ally, its officials say they have foiled repeated plots by Islamist militants in recent years, and Christians, who make up about 2 percent of the population, worship openly in a country that holds several biblical sites and draws Christian pilgrims from around the world. Karak was last attacked in 2016, when Islamic State gunmen killed 10 people in the city and at its castle.