In a development that will surprise absolutely no one who has been paying attention to the general trajectory of global security, gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, Jordan, on Friday, killing seven people and wounding 40 others, authorities said. The shooting took place in Karak, about 180km (110 miles) south of the capital, Amman - a town that, as it happens, is home to a minority Christian population and, apparently, a recurring problem with armed attacks.

Footage broadcast on Jordanian state television showed two gunmen who appear to be holding pistols approaching the church and firing shots. A third man who appears to be holding a semiautomatic rifle then approaches and opens fire, and all three then run toward the church. Witness video showed broken glass and pools of blood on the church floor - a grim visual that no amount of official condemnation can sanitize.

Dorgham Halasa, among the mourners inside, said intense gunfire erupted 15 minutes after the funeral had started, and then people started running. "It was a weird situation, and heavy gunfire," Halasa said. He didn't see the gunmen but said others reported seeing four of them. The Associated Press could not independently verify the number of assailants, and Jordan's security services did not immediately release details - because nothing says "investigation" like a complete information vacuum.

A government statement said the attack was "carried out by unknown assailants" but didn't say whether any gunmen were captured or killed. It said "investigations are under way at full speed" - a phrase that, in the annals of official statements, ranks somewhere between "thoughts and prayers" and "we'll get back to you." Jordan declared three days of national mourning, according to the kingdom's Petra news agency.

Karak, it should be noted, is no stranger to this sort of thing. In 2016, gunmen ambushed police in a series of attacks in the town, including at a Crusader castle popular with tourists, killing 10 people - including seven officers - and wounding dozens. Jordanian security forces killed those gunmen after a long standoff. So, you know, progress.

Jordan's health minister Ibrahim al-Budour said two of those wounded are in critical condition. King Abdullah II said on X that Jordan "will confront the terrorist act that targeted Karak with the harshest penalties" and offered his "deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs, and our wishes for recovery to the wounded." Jordan's prime minister Jafar Hassan said during a security meeting in Karak on Friday evening that the attack was a result of terrorist ideology and blind extremism, and that the assailants will be punished and legal measures taken against those who seek to introduce extremism.

Condemnation of the slayings came from around the region, including from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Oman. Ahmed al-Tayeb in Cairo, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world's foremost religious institution, offered his condolences to the families of victims and called it a "heinous terrorist attack." Iraqi foreign minister Fuad Hussein called his Jordanian counterpart and "affirmed Iraq's solidarity with Jordan in the face of terrorism," Hussein's office said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack during a funeral as "especially heinous," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. "The secretary-general also calls for all those responsible to be found and to be held to account." A sentiment universally shared, and - as the 2016 Karak attack and Friday's shooting suggest - universally difficult to actually implement.