A court in Jordan has condemned three individuals to capital punishment by hanging following a lethal mass shooting at a church last month.
The incident on 23 October resulted in the deaths of nine individuals and left 34 others injured while attending a Christian funeral service at a Greek Orthodox church located within the Karak governorate.
According to an official statement released by the Jordanian Armed Forces on Sunday, the defendants were found guilty of multiple charges including acts of terrorism, illegal weapons possession, disseminating the ideology of a terrorist group, and conspiracy to commit terrorist acts.
The convicted individuals consist of two Jordanian brothers alongside their brother-in-law, who escaped the location following the assault and were subsequently captured three days later without public identification.
The Karak governorate hosts a significant Christian population within the predominantly Muslim nation.
Surveillance recordings from the date of the incident depicted three armed individuals advancing toward and opening fire upon St George's church situated in the village of Hmoud.
Additional footage captured casualties on the ground amid chaotic conditions within the church premises.
Motivations behind the selection of this particular church by the assailants remain undetermined.
In the aftermath of the assault, King Abdullah II of Jordan published a message on X stating that the terrorist action against Karak would face the most severe response and that attempts to divide the nation using violence would fail against collective unity.
Following their initial flight, the three suspects were discovered hiding in an abandoned building located in the Karak governorate south of Amman.
Upon refusing to surrender and initiating gunfire toward law enforcement personnel, the suspects were wounded as security forces returned fire, according to the Public Security Directorate, with no injuries reported among security personnel.
King Abdullah commended the security forces for pursuing the suspects to the conclusion.
In the week following the Karak incident, the Jordanian military conducted retaliatory airstrikes against targets identified as terrorist organizations within Syria.
Syrian state media reported via health officials that five individuals, comprising women, children, and an elderly man, died during the strike in a village located in the southern Daraa province, whereas the Jordanian military stated that fighter jets eliminated and injured multiple terrorists without providing specific figures.
While Jordan asserted that coordination had taken place with the Syrian government, Syrian authorities maintained that no prior notice was given.
Capital punishment in Jordan is executed via hanging, following previous suspensions of the practice between 2006 and 2014, as well as from 2017 until June of the current year.