Jordan: 3 arrested over deadly church attack

State security forces in Jordan arrested three men on Monday morning in connection with a deadly attack on a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church on Friday, in which nine people were killed and around 40 more injured.

Officials said the arrests took place following a dawn shootout with the armed men who were discovered hiding in an abandoned house in the Karak governorate, located some 120 kilometers (75 miles) southwest of the capital, Amman.

All three suspects were wounded in the operation, but  Jordanian security forces reported no casualties as they recovered firearms and ammunition.

"The security services have fulfilled their duties, resulting in the capture of those who carried out this terrorist act," said Jordanian Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya in a phone interview with state broadcaster Al-Mamlaka on Monday.

"[The suspects] put up fierce resistance but were ultimately subdued and taken into custody, having sustained severe injuries."

He added that there "three individuals involved" who were "identified early on in the wake of the terrorist incident" and that the security services had "employed all the means at their disposal to apprehend them."

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Jordan's King Abdullah calls for 'iron first' response

King Abdullah II of Jordan had ordered authorities to respond with an "iron fist" against anyone attempting to undermine the unity of the Jordanian people.

"We vowed the terrorists would not escape punishment, and no proponent of dark ideologies that divide Jordanians will be tolerated," he added in a statement on Monday, following the arrests, which relatives of the victims had said brought some relief.

"Despite the profound and immense tragedy, what happened today has eased our grief — and the grief of the Jordanian people — not just for us, the families of the martyrs," one relative, himself a survivor of the attack, told Al-Mamlaka.

King Abdullah II (center) visited victims in hospital and called for Jordanian security forces to respond with an "iron fist."Image: Royal Court of Jordan/Handout/Anadolu/IMAGO Who carried out the attack in Jordan?

There has been no claim of responsibility for Friday's deadly attack and Jordan's Public Security Directorate has not named the suspects or publicly ​identified possible affiliations with any Islamist militant groups.

Attacks on Christian minorities are very rare in Jordan, a relatively stable middle-eastern state which is a close ally of the United States and which maintains diplomatic and military relations with neighboring Israel.

Edited by: Wesley Rahn