Jordan's State Security Court on Sunday sentenced three men to death for a terrorist attack on a church in the south of the country last month that killed nine people and wounded 34.
Jordan Church Attack Verdict
Jordan Sentences Three to Death Over Attack
Jordan's State Security Court convicted the three men of terrorism less than a month after gunmen opened fire on a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the south of the country, killing nine people.
The three were convicted of a series of serious terrorism offenses, according to Jordan's state news agency Petra. The charges included carrying out terrorist acts resulting in death, possessing weapons and ammunition for terrorist purposes, and promoting the ideology of a terrorist organization. The sentences remain subject to appeal and to automatic review by an appeals court.
The attack took place on October 23 in the village of Hamud in Karak governorate. Gunmen opened fire during a funeral being held at a Greek Orthodox church. Such an attack is highly unusual in Jordan, where Christians are a long-established minority that generally enjoys relative security.
The attackers were not caught at the scene. Three days later, security forces tracked them down to an abandoned house in Karak, where a gunfight broke out. All three were wounded in the exchange of fire and taken into custody. No members of the security forces were hurt.
The attack also had consequences beyond Jordan's borders. Following the attack, the Jordanian army carried out airstrikes in southern Syria against targets belonging to groups that Jordanian authorities linked to the church shooting. The strikes drew controversy after Syrian authorities reported seven people killed, among them three children and a woman.
Jordan later acknowledged that the airstrikes had also killed Syrian civilians. In the wake of the incident, the two countries agreed to set up a joint security committee to examine the circumstances of the strikes and their consequences.
