The key facts
- Nine people were killed and 34 wounded in the attack on the Church of Saint George in the village of Humud
- Three suspects in organizing the attack have been detained
- The King declared water security a national priority and called for accelerating economic projects
The King addressed parliament after the terror attack in Karak
King Abdullah II of Jordan said on Monday in a speech before parliament that the country will remain unshaken in the face of any aggressor. “Jordan was and will remain unbowed before any brutal aggressor and formidable to those who choose to ignore its history,” he said, as reported by The National.
The church attack and its victims
The speech was the King’s first public appearance since the attack in late October, when gunmen opened fire during a funeral service at the Church of Saint George of the Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Humud in Karak province, roughly 80 km south of Amman. Nine Christians were killed, all of them men, several of whom belonged to the influential Halasa clan; another 34 people were wounded. According to the outlet, this is the deadliest attack on Jordan’s Christian minority since the 1950s: Christians make up about 250,000 of the country’s 11 million population. The authorities detained three suspects believed to be involved in the attack.
“They are not part of us”
“A few days ago, the treacherous hand of terror tried to test the resilience of our state and the resolve of our people. But we will stand firm,” the King said. According to him, the “outlaw terrorists” will not undermine the country’s security and unity, and the attackers themselves “have left the great Jordanian family and betrayed it” — “they have no place among us, today or ever.” The King called the blood of Karak’s victims “a debt we carry” and asked the deputies to honour their memory with a minute of silence.
The economy and water security in the monarch’s speech
Beyond the topic of the terror attack, the King addressed domestic issues. He called on the government to accelerate the implementation of major projects aimed at supporting the national economy, noting that the country faces sluggish growth and high unemployment — the official unemployment rate stands at about 16%. Separately, he declared water security a national priority: in his words, Jordan will not allow access to water to become a “hostage” of any party, and he ordered that projects in this sphere continue and that plans be developed to protect resources and the rights of future generations.
