There was a heavy security presence at the entrance to a hospital treating people injured in the incident in Karak, amid an atmosphere charged with anger among residents of the governorate, particularly the families of those injured and killed.

In his post on X, King Abdullah II said: “Whoever imagines that the bullets of treachery can divide the ranks of Jordanians will fail in his endeavour before our steadfastness and unity.”

Public service television station Al-Mamlaka has reported the king arrived in Karak on Friday evening, local time, “to check on the condition of the injured”.

Karak has a sizeable Christian community in the majority-Muslim Jordan.

Such violence is rare in the country, but deadly attacks have been carried out in the past.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, a Christian head of state, said the “heinous terrorist attack” on the church “violated the sanctity of death and funeral mourners, contradicts all religious and humanitarian values,” according to Lebanese media.

Additional reporting by Husam Assal, BBC Arabic.