On a Monday that carried a country's grief across a border, Jordan answered a deadly attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Karak with airstrikes inside Syria, while Damascus counted its own dead and shut the Nassib crossing that links the two neighbours. The violence began at a funeral in a small Christian community in southern Jordan, where nine people died and many more were wounded, and where three local men were soon arrested and described by police as acting alone. Yet a single act of hatred has now opened a second story, one about whether two governments can agree on what happened, who wa
Jordan Strikes Armed Groups in Syria After Karak Church Attack; Syria Disputes Account and Reports Civilian Deaths
Nine people were killed and more than two dozen wounded in the church attack, and at least five civilians, including women and children, were reported killed in the Syrian strikes.
"They only represent themselves," police said of the three arrested men.
Mark
Why does this story feel like two stories at once?
Mimi
Because Jordan arrested three of its own citizens for the church attack, and then struck armed groups in Syria. The strikes and the arrests are presented as part of the same response.
Luke
And that's the tension. Police say the three men acted alone and had no organised group behind them. The air force says it hit terrorist groups but doesn't name them. The reporting doesn't explain the link.
Mark
What do we actually know about the strikes?
Mimi
Jordan says many militants were killed or wounded and vehicles destroyed. Syria's Daraa health director says at least five civilians died, including women, children and a 65-year-old man.
Luke
Note both are claims from interested parties. Jordan gave no location or group names, and the civilian toll is one Syrian official's figure, reported via state media. Neither is independently confirmed here.
Mark
What about the coordination?
Mimi
Jordan's military says it coordinated with Damascus. Syria says it's investigating and stressed the importance of coordination in border areas, which reads as a polite disagreement.
Luke
Right, and closing Nassib, Jordan's only passenger and commercial crossing, suggests the disagreement is real. How long it stays shut is unknown.
Mark
And for the families in Karak?
Mimi
Two relatives, both survivors, said the arrests eased their grief, though one said the pain will last years.
Luke
Worth saying the motive is still unknown, and no group has claimed the attack.
El Pulso
- Jordan's air force hit what it calls terrorist groups inside Syria, days after gunmen turned a funeral in Karak into a massacre that killed nine.
- Syria says at least five civilians, including women and a 65-year-old man, died in the strikes, and its government has opened an investigation.
- Amman says the strikes were coordinated with Damascus, while Damascus stresses coordination in a very different tone, leaving the two capitals telling conflicting stories.
- Syria has shut the Nassib crossing, Jordan's only passenger and commercial link with Syria, freezing traffic in both directions.
- Three arrested men, all Jordanian, are described by police as acting alone, which sits uneasily beside cross-border airstrikes.
- Families of the dead find brief relief in the arrests, but the grief is set to last for years.
On a Monday that carried a country's grief across a border, Jordan answered a deadly attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Karak with airstrikes inside Syria, while Damascus counted its own dead and shut the Nassib crossing that links the two neighbours. The violence began at a funeral in a small Christian community in southern Jordan, where nine people died and many more were wounded, and where three local men were soon arrested and described by police as acting alone. Yet a single act of hatred has now opened a second story, one about whether two governments can agree on what happened, who was struck, and who was coordinating with whom. The wound is shared, but the account of it is not yet.
On Monday, the Jordanian air force announced that it had struck armed groups inside Syria in response to Friday's attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, a small city in southern Jordan about 55 miles south of Amman. The assault came during a funeral. Nine people were killed and more than two dozen wounded, and Jordan declared three days of mourning. The air force did not say who the targets were or exactly where the strikes landed.
Syria's account was starkly different. In Daraa province, where the strikes hit, health officials told the state news agency Sana that at least five civilians had died, among them women, children and a 65-year-old man. Damascus opened an investigation and closed the Nassib crossing, Jordan's only passenger and commercial route into Syria, halting traffic both ways. Jordan insisted the operation was coordinated with Damascus; Syria's statement emphasized the need for coordination in border areas, a careful wording that hints at disagreement.
At home, authorities arrested three Jordanian men after a dawn shootout in which all were wounded. Police named them as two brothers and their brother-in-law, and found a large cache of munitions in the abandoned house where they were held. The police chief described them as takfiri gunmen with no ties to any organised group, saying they represented only themselves. King Abdullah II vowed that the terrorists would not escape punishment.
For the families, the arrests brought a measure of relief. A survivor who had lost relatives said it eased the grief of the families and the nation, while an uncle of one victim said the news brought joy, though the pain would endure for years. What comes next is uncertain: whether the crossing reopens, whether Amman and Damascus can reconcile their accounts, and how a domestic attack can justify strikes beyond the border.
On Monday, the Jordanian air force announced that it had struck armed groups inside Syria, answering Friday's attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, in southern Jordan, that killed nine people. In a statement, the air force said the operation had killed and wounded many members of what it called terrorist groups and destroyed a number of their vehicles. It did not say who the groups were or where exactly the strikes landed.
Syria's account was different. State media reported that civilians had died. The director of health in Daraa province, in southern Syria, where the strikes took place, told the national news agency Sana that at least five civilians had been killed, among them women and children and a 65-year-old man.
The two governments also disagreed about coordination. Jordan's armed forces said the operation was carried out in coordination with Damascus. Syria's government said it had opened an investigation into the Jordanian attacks, and in a statement it stressed the importance of field and security coordination in border areas. After the strikes, Syria said it had closed the Nassib border crossing with Jordan, halting traffic in both directions. Nassib is Jordan's only passenger and commercial crossing with Syria.
The church attack happened during a funeral in Karak, about 55 miles (90km) south of Amman, a city with a minority Christian population. Nine people were killed and more than two dozen wounded. Jordan declared three days of mourning. No group claimed responsibility, and the motive remained unknown.
Earlier on Monday, authorities arrested three men over the attack after a shootout at dawn in which all three were wounded. The Public Security Directorate later named them as the brothers Hazzah Zaidan Mohammad and Mishal Zaidan Mohammad, and their brother-in-law Ahmad Sami Hussein. All three are Jordanian and were taken into custody in Karak. A large cache of munitions was found in the abandoned house where forces apprehended them.
The directorate's chief, Maj Gen Obaidallah Abd Rabbo Al-Maayta, described the gunmen as takfiri, a term used for Sunni militants, but said they had no tie to any organised group. "They only represent themselves," he told a news conference. Interior minister Mazen al-Faraya said the attack came from a terroristic, extremist way of thinking, and warned that if it is not resolved, such incidents will happen again.
King Abdullah II had ordered authorities to respond with an iron fist against those he called outlaws of Islam and anyone trying to undermine the unity of the Jordanian people. In a statement on Monday he said the terrorists would not escape punishment and that no proponent of dark ideologies dividing Jordanians would be tolerated.
Relatives of the dead spoke of partial relief. Khaled al-Borqan, a survivor of the attack and a relative of three of those killed, told Al-Mamlaka that the arrests had eased the grief of the families and of the Jordanian people. Fares Halaseh, an uncle of one victim and also a survivor, said the news brought joy, but that the pain remains: they will not forget this agony for years to come.
What to watch now is the Nassib crossing, which remains closed, and whether Amman and Damascus can reconcile their accounts of the strikes and of the coordination behind them. Police maintain the three arrested men acted alone, a point that sits awkwardly beside strikes aimed at groups in Syria.
Citas Notables
They only represent themselves.— Maj Gen Obaidallah Abd Rabbo Al-Maayta, Public Security Directorate
We will not forget this agony for years to come.— Fares Halaseh, uncle of a victim and survivor
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