Thousands of mourners gathered for the funerals of eight victims of Friday's deadly attack on a church in southern Jordan on Sunday (October 25), Al Jazeera reported. The burials were held beside St George's Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hamoud, southwest of the capital Amman — the same church where attackers opened fire during another funeral two days earlier. Coffins wrapped in Jordanian flags were carried through crowds gathered around the church, as priests led prayers and security personnel stood guard.

Source: Al Jazeera, Oct 25

Prime Minister Jafar Hassan attended the service alongside government ministers and senior military and civilian officials, according to Jordan's state news agency Petra, which said thousands of citizens also took part in the funeral procession. The ninth victim is due to be buried on Monday, his family told the AFP news agency.

Source: Petra via Al Jazeera, Oct 25

9People killed in Friday's attack on the church funeral in Hamoud, Karak province
8Victims buried on Sunday beside St George's Church
170–200People at the church for Friday's funeral when firing began, according to the parish priest speaking to AFP
3%Approximate share of Christians in Jordan's largely Muslim population, according to AFP

Attack described by authorities as extremist terrorism

Nine people were killed and dozens wounded in the rare attack on Jordan's Christian minority, which prompted three days of national mourning. Jordanian authorities have described the attack as “extremist terrorism”, and Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya has called it a terrorist attack by an extremist group, according to reporting on officials' statements. King Abdullah, who visited some of the wounded in hospital on Friday, has promised a forceful response, and the assailants are still being sought. Officials say they have not established whether the attackers were connected to an armed group, and no organisation has claimed responsibility.

Source: Catholic News / officials' statements, Oct 25

The parish priest, Father Yohanna Hamati, told AFP that about 170 to 200 people were at the church for Friday's funeral when firing began outside, and that mourners at first struggled to understand what was happening before people rushed into the church to escape. By Saturday, bullet holes remained in the walls and wooden pews and windows had been shattered, AFP reported.

“We make no distinction between Muslim and Christian”

The violence has drawn expressions of solidarity across religious lines. AFP reported that Muslims were among those wounded, and young volunteers visited a hospital in Karak with flowers and a message reading “Our loss is one”. The mourning reached Washington, DC, on Sunday, where members of the Jordanian community lit candles outside their country's embassy, and Jordan's ambassador to the US, Dina Kawar, told those gathered that efforts to stir religious division were “bound to fail”. Back in Hamoud, Father Hamati appealed for unity, telling AFP: “We make no distinction between Muslim and Christian.”

Source: AFP via Al Jazeera, Oct 25