Three men arrested after gunmen kill nine at Jordan funeral

Jordan has detained three armed suspects in Karak after a Monday shootout with security forces. They are held in connection with the attack on a funeral at St George's church in Hammoud, according to Reuters as cited by Christian Today.

The gunmen opened fire on Friday 23 October while mourners were gathered inside the church grounds. Seven people were killed at first and around 40 were wounded. Two of the injured died over the weekend, which brought the toll to nine.

No group has claimed the attack. The government has blamed "extremist terrorists" and promised the "harshest retaliation" against those responsible. It also declared three days of national mourning. Vatican News described the church as Greek Orthodox and reported that the search for the attackers was still under way on Sunday.

Church leaders responded quickly. Patriarch Theophilos III and Metropolitan Christophoros of Jordan issued a joint statement calling the shooting a "vile, cowardly, and bloody act", Christian Today reports. They said it would not weaken national unity and would instead draw Christians and Muslims closer together. They added that Christians would not be driven from their land, and described themselves as "witnesses to the faith".

They also rejected any link between the killings and Islam as practised in Jordan, calling the act alien to it. They urged their flock to stay steadfast and keep praying.

Pope Leo XIV spoke of the attack after the Angelus on Sunday 25 October. He said he was "close to that community and to the entire country", and he praised Jordan for peaceful coexistence among faiths, according to Vatican News. He made the remarks alongside an appeal for peace in Yemen and a call to pray for the interreligious gathering at Assisi on 27 October.

The World Evangelical Alliance also condemned the killings. Its Secretary General, Rev Botrus Mansour, rejected all violence against the right to life. He warned against using the tragedy to stir sectarian tension. He affirmed that worship and the protection of places of worship are duties of both state and society. He asked Christians to pray for the families of the dead, for the wounded and for Jordan.

Jordan is a close US ally in the region. The arrests now give investigators a first line of inquiry into who planned the attack and why they chose a funeral.

Compiled from the reports below. Read the originals.